Domino Effect
by theDarkestZero
Summary: Kane is a boy with powerful magic skills, and he is forced into a perilous journey with his Keyblade-wielding friend, Domino, who possesses the darkness. Truths come to light when an ancient prophecy entangles Kane, Domino, and every person, world, and Keybearer out there in an unavoidable destiny. A war is coming. The light shall fight the dark. The Keyblade War will begin! HIATUS
1. Prologue

**Here's the prequel to my Road to Xehanort story! One, you don't HAVE to read that story before this one, or vice versa. You CAN though, if you feel the need, but in order to read Road to Xehanort, you may want to read Nonexistent Union first. Now, without further ado, let's get on with the prologue.**

**— **

**Prologue**

Living here used to always be so simple. Never before had things gone so complicated so fast. Before we go into great detail about the origins of the great Keyblade War anybody reading my journals should know about, I'd like to tell you a little about myself.

The name's Kane Carter, a sixteen year old boy sporting shoulder length black hair with mysterious golden eyes that people used to call '_unnatural_'. I had always had a fascination for the Keyblade, a mysterious weapon invented by man only three years prior. These weapons, connected to its wielder by blood, cannot be separated unless the blood of said wielder is consumed by another.

I'm afraid I'm getting a little too deep into the origins of the Keyblade. Back to me, I don't worry too much, or so I think. People are always telling me how I'm such a worrywart and I can't really blame them. Would anyone think I'm just fine, being just a kid who's lost his parents three years ago and is living all by himself in the care of a very generous foster home? I think not.

I also have quite the writing skills. I'm usually all to myself in my room writing in my journals, or I'm with my closest friend, Domino, a kid who lives down the street from us. How could I forget Domino?

Domino was almost the opposite of me. While I was all serious and alone all the time, Domino was making a friend every day of the week like the happy-go-lucky person he was, not a care in the world. His silvery eyes and long, mid-back purple hair were in great contrast to my golden eyes and dark hair.

Which mighty world do we live on? A mighty metropolis filled with buildings and skyscrapers that disappeared from view beyond the clouds. Roads that seemed to go on forever. Let's not forget that majestic lake where a lot of people go to calm down, known as the Lake of Destiny, which you could only see if you go boating there yourself, or you can see it from atop of the Great Bridge. But enough about my homeworld.

Now, it's time for me to answer the question on your mind…why are you here reading some kid's journal while you could be doing better, more productive things? Because this journal is the collection of the last remnants of my legacy, one I'd like to share with the world of tomorrow, no matter how much change has occurred.

So I guess it's time for my tale to begin. The tale of Domino and I as the two of us brave the horrors of the Keyblade War. Let us begin.


	2. Simple and Clean

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me. In future chapters, I will tell you which OC belongs to whom, since I had previously asked for OCs from you guys. Well...read on!**

**...**

**Simple and Clean**

The sky was a brilliant blue and the only thing that was obstructing our view of the sky were those blue birds that chirped until they fell asleep. I was sitting on the steps of Kamikaze Home, the very generous foster home of Utopia that decided to take me in after my parents passed away three years ago. In my hands I clutched my journal—which is bound in the most expensive-looking golden leather and has a huge, black letter _K_ on the front cover to symbolize my name—and I closed it after looking at its contents.

I normally wear the same clothes every day—all my clothing is the same, mind you—a normal white button-up jacket over a red t-shirt, a pair of blue jean shorts and a brown leathered satchel over my shoulder. I put my journal in the satchel, just as I heard a whirring of wind brush past my ear.

I whipped my head to the side to see someone flying through the air on his bright pink and blue Keyblade Glider. What is a Keyblade Glider? A thing Keybearers use to traverse the worlds. Well, this would be the case, but the outside world is cut off from us. This has to be the only world in existence that doesn't allow us to leave.

I focused on the person standing atop the Glider. My best friend Domino, wearing a purple button-up shirt over a white undershirt, with black jeans, and was strangely barefoot. For some reason he was always barefoot because he says it makes him _one with nature_. I know, he's a pretty weird guy.

"Whoo-hoo!" came Domino's eccentric voice as his Glider screamed past my ear once again. "Kane, you've gotta try this!" He flew by my ear again, this time flying upward as the Glider connected with the wall of the foster home, beginning to climb up it with ease.

"I would, if I _had_ a Keyblade!" I yelled back to Domino. His Glider, once at the top of the foster home, started coming back down and flew past me, nearly making me fall over. "Damn, Domino!"

"Come on, man, this is fun!" he yelled back stopping in place and making his Glider do a 360 spin, and then he took off towards the lake.

He was always riding his Glider no matter the consequences. There weren't many Keyblade wielders living in Utopia. Domino was one of the only twenty that lived here. That's how scarce it was in our world. Coming back from the direction of the lake again was Domino, speeding closer to me.

"Wait…uh-oh," Domino breathed to himself, and he crashed straight through the bottom window of the foster home, glass shattering everywhere as my friend landed inside.

"Domino!" I yelled in both worry and anger. I opened up the door and stepped inside, hoping to see Domino. Well, I did. His body was covered in cuts from that glass. Towering over him was my foster parent, Ibiki Kamikaze.

Ibiki is a tall man, with long black hair that is tied in a ponytail and sideburns that were way too long. The only thing cute and cuddly about this man was the fact that he had those large, pale-pink eyes that didn't match with the rest of him.

"Domino, how many times must I tell you…" Ibiki growled, grabbing my friend's arm and yanking him up, forcing him to stand on his feet as his Glider vanished. "You cannot use that Keyblade Glider around the foster home! This is the seventh time this year breaking in like you did—"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Domino muttered under his breath, pouting. He crossed his arms and walked towards the exit. "I was just having a little fun."

"You have to understand, Domino, that not everyone has a Keyblade," Ibiki said in a now kind tone as he started to say the same speech he _always_ gives to Domino. "So the little ones may get jealous or confused at the sight of that thing. And do you think it's fair that _only_ you have a Keyblade, along with only a few others, while everyone else in this world have diddlysquat?"

"I guess it's not," Domino replied, staring at the ground. "Kane, let's go."

Domino—instead of stepping out the doorway—stepped out of the window that he broke. I followed him as I walked out the door and closed it behind me. When we were both outside, the sun shining down on us, Domino looked at me with a toothy grin and said, "Why do you live there again? You can just come live with me!"

"Your parents wouldn't let me anyway," I muttered, hanging my head down. I knew that was an impossibility. His parents, the two first Keyblade settlers in Utopia, were super strict about who he even hangs around with. The idea of him hanging around a lowly street rat must make his parents groan in disgust. "Besides, my home is with Ibiki and the others."

I sat back down, only to be accompanied by Domino next to me. The sun slowly started to set. Curfew would be in less than an hour.

Domino stood up as the wind slowly and calmly swept his hair to the side and out of his face. He looked up at the orange sun and said, "Ever wonder what's out there? I know from my parents that there are other worlds…but for some reason this is the only world to be blocked off. Ever wonder why that is?"

"No, I usually never wonder," I told him truthfully, and he sat down in depression. I never wanted to leave Utopia. It was a paradise for me. It's where all my brothers and sisters at Kamikaze Home were. And where Ibiki was. And especially where my friendship with Domino was destined to stay at. "And besides, Keybearers traverse the worlds. I doubt I could."

"But maybe you could," Domino replied, standing up and helping me to my feet. "Hey, can I check out the orphanage again?"

"Foster home."

"Same difference," Domino snapped back. "Tomorrow night, I wanna have dinner with you guys. I can be a polite person! And I'm sure Ibiki would love to have me over." Yeah right, after the umpteenth time he crashed into Ibiki's window. Domino noticed my near-laughter face and growled, "He would! He knows I'm your friend!"

"Fine, you can come over later," I replied back, not wanting to upset Domino. After all, he was my friend, so why let him down?

**.**

School the next day started like no other. Domino and I stepped into the school, marveling at how much the building changed over the summer. We were reacquainted with old friends, ran into old enemies, and were greeted by our old teachers.

Sitting in Mr. Brunner's classroom to the side of Domino was boring as we had to sit through his lectures he'd always give on the first day of school.

Mr. Brunner eyed Domino for a second and then looked over at the whole class, saying, "Okay, for the first project I will assign for the year—" I could hear just about every kid in the class moan in disgust. "—you should give me an essay or a poster about your research on the famous and legendary—" He eyed Domino again. "—Keyblade!"

"What?" I asked silently. The first project, on the _first_ day of school, was about the Keyblade? I didn't need to learn about that. My best friend was one of the only wielders. I should know a thing or two by now. But curiosity got the better of me, and whenever class dismissed to go to recess, I went straight upstairs to the library, Domino following closely behind me.

"Why are we going to the library?" he asked when I entered the room, avoiding his failed attempts to pull me out of there.

I ignored him and made my way to the desk, where the old librarian looked up at me with emotionless eyes. "Hello, ma'am, can you direct me to a book about the Keyblades?" The old woman looked down at her computer, typed in something rather fast, and looked back up. "Keyblade Wielders, a book on the back shelf, in the nonfiction section." She looked back to her computer and didn't bother saying anything more.

I walked to the back of the library and pulled out a golden book with the title _Keyblade Wielders_ on the front and the spine. I sat down at a table where Domino had sat at during my talk with the librarian. I opened the book when Domino shouted out, "Kane, what are we doing?"

"I'm researching," I said, trying to shut him up long enough for me to read the first few lines on the first page. "Let's see…yes, Keyblade were created by man three years ago. Nobody knows why they were created…it says here that there's a world called Sanctuary where the Keyblades and Keyblade Wielders were first born. Maybe that's where your parents used to live. In Sanctuary."

"Maybe," Domino said, suddenly intrigued as he took the book from me and flipped through the pages. "Man soon started developing their own beliefs. One of these beliefs was about the existence in a great deity in the sky that they called Kingdom Hearts, and that only a special key would unlock it's secrets. Special key…like a special Keyblade?"

"I don't know," I replied. I ran my finger along the many pages as I read. I was a speed reader, and I also had the strange gift of a photographic memory, so I was bound to read through this book quickly and never forget a word about it. I was never too interested in the outside world, but this book made me intrigued on what really is out there. "They say that all the worlds are connected. But our world is the only one cut off from the rest."

"It's because they thought that they were protecting us by keeping us cut off," Domino said. "What they were really doing is lying to everybody about what's out there. And I intend to find out where I come from." Domino stood up after slamming his hands on the desk, causing the librarian to snap a look our way. "Let's leave this place."

And with that, Domino walked out of the library without another word. What was that guy even thinking? Sometimes I wonder how that guy works. He sets his sights on something and always sees it until the very end. So what exactly was Domino's plan now? He couldn't exactly cross the barrier of our world even _with_ his Keyblade Glider.

I walked out of the library after him, the book under my arm, and continued the day as normal.

**.**

Domino and I stood in front of Kamikaze Home, as we were ready to eat dinner over there. Domino reached his hand out to knock on the door, but it opened before he was given the chance to. Standing in the doorway was one of the other Foster Kids, Tara Skye. Along with the Kamikaze, the Skye clan is very popular in Utopia.

The thirteen year old Tara had long caramel-brown hair that reached the back of her waist, and on top was also styled into two ponytails that hung on either side of her. Her eyes were crystal blue and her skin was fairly tan. She wore a simple t-shirt and jean shorts that were ripped at the knees.

"Hey, Kane, welcome back!" Tara said with a giddy smile. He raised her eyes to Domino's direction, who awkwardly smiled and waved to her. "And you brought Domino…the Keyblade wielder…what's he doing here?"

"He's eating dinner with us," I replied to her, and she grunted. I wasn't sure why, but Tara never really liked Domino. Then again, not many liked him just because of his abilities. But Tara never gave a reason as to why she hated him. "Go tell Ibiki."

She stuck her tongue at me. I pushed her playfully out the way and stepped into the large mansion-like house with Domino following close behind.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Domino shouted loudly in that eccentric voice of his, running in front of me and stretching his arms out, looking as if he was breathing the air of the house. "Hey…you smell that? I smell chicken!"

"Ibiki's specialty," I told him, and I just laughed at Domino as he licked his lips.

"Actually, I cooked this one," Tara said from behind me, and I turned around to look at her weirdly. "Besides, mine are crunchier and juicer."

"I don't care who cooked it! I just want some!" Domino shouted, nearly foaming at the mouth. And then we heard two people screaming, and Domino was almost knocked over by two little kids. In their hands were toy swords, which apparently they always pretend are Keyblades. "Hey, watch it!"

"You watch it, old man!" one of the kid's voices screamed. Seven year old Kale Kamikaze, light pink eyes and short, curly pink hair, swung his sword at the other kid, five year old Ty Skye, light brown hair and dark brown eyes, who was Tara's little brother.

Kale swung his sword at Ty again, but Ty quickly rolled under the swing and kicked Kale in the knee, causing him to fall over in pain. "Ouch, Ty, that hurt!"

"Quit being a baby," Ty snapped back. "I younger than you and you still always complain!"

"That's enough," Tara said, looking rather aggravated, and she lifted little Ty up and held him over her shoulder as he kicked and thrashed to get out of her tight hold. "Calm yourself, little monster!" Ty finally calmed. "Man, I wish parenting was simple. No wonder Ibiki doesn't have an easy time with us."

Domino rushed into the kitchen to follow the smell of Tara's supposed juicy and crunchy chicken, so I followed him to be greeted by a table filled with plates, silverware, and already made food. The only thing not on there was the chicken. Ibiki sat in a chair at the table reading the newspaper, and he looked to the two of us and instantly grimaced.

"Hello…Domino." That smile Ibiki wore was _so_ not convincing.

"I'm eating over here, pops," Domino said, immediately taking his seat across from Ibiki, taking his own fork and plate like he owned them. "Kane said I could!"

"Kane," Ibiki growled, turning his head towards me. "We have enough people here as it is. But I guess…since he's already here—"

"Where's my chicken!?" Domino interrupted.

"—fine, he can eat here." I smiled at Ibiki, but Ibiki didn't return it.

Tara stepped in and took her fried chicken out of the pan, all ready to go. She placed a large chicken on each plate and sat down herself beside Domino. I sat on the other side of him. Kale and Ty ran in with the swords until Ibiki barked at them to sit down, so they each respectively sat on the sides of Tara and me.

And we dug in. Despite Tara's age, she fried her chicken better than Ibiki had ever done. Domino was finished before I even started, and that's saying something considering the size of the chicken. "Thank you, Tara!" Domino shouted, and Tara just blushed at that comment.

When we were all nearly finished eating, Ibiki said aloud, "So, Kane, how was your first day of school?"

"Mr. Brunner assigned a project," I replied. "And a big part of the project is to research the Keyblade and its origins, as well as the Keyblade wielders. So I was gonna use Domino as my main resource of information."

"So, he's finally going to become useful, eh?" Ibiki said with a laugh. "Good for him."

Domino stood up from his chair, walked to me, and nearly pulled me off of the chair when he tried to yank on my arm. "Kane, I have to show you something. Then you can study up on the Keyblade as long as you want." I nodded and followed him out of the kitchen, leaving Ibiki, Tara, Ty, and Kale behind.

Outside of Kamikaze Home, Domino stared out at the blue sky, the sun slowly setting, "Kane, I know you've seen my Keyblade a dozen times, bit now you're gonna see it in action!" I arched an eyebrow. He lifted his arm into the air, and appearing out of a flash of light in his hand was his Keyblade.

The handle was a mix of hot pink and black; an odd combination. Golden stars decorated the handle and made it look sparkly and amazing. The shaft was a light pink, and the blade itself was pink with black teeth that were curved into elegant points. The tips of each point were golden.

"Starlight!" Domino yelled, referring to the name of his Keyblade. "They say this blade was created to symbolize the many worlds out there, and how to us, they look like simple stars. My parents forged this Key especially for me."

He then did what he always did every day to have fun. He threw his Keyblade through the air like a boomerang and it disappeared from sight in the sky. It soon came blasting its way back as the form of his pink, black, and yellow Keyblade Glider that he eagerly jumped onto as it neared him. He willed the Glider to halt, and he held a hand out to me.

"I don't know…" I muttered, and he just grunted.

"Come on!" Domino shouted at me. "You'll never know what it feels like to soar through the skies unless you hop on! Now grab my hand!" I just sighed and grabbed onto his hand, and I was immediately pulled onto the Glider. "Hold on!"

I hurriedly wrapped my arms around his stomach as the Glider suddenly shot forward, faster than anything I'd ever seen. Using his will, Domino circled the Glider around Kamikaze Home three times, and then shot forward into the air. If I would have let go of Domino, I would have fallen off. Domino flew us up high as if we were going up a steep cliff.

Domino held onto the handles, steering our directions through the sky. He had eventually stopped us in the middle of the sky, right above the beautiful crystal-blue lake. The Lake of Destiny.

"See that, Kane?" Domino asked, pointing below us to the lake. "We've always gone to that lake at sunset, but we'd never been able to see the entire thing. Well now we can. Together."

He was right. I could see the entire perimeter of the lake, and where the water met the land. It was beautiful. And here I was thinking that it had been endless. But nothing is truly endless. "Hold on!"

I held on tightly to Domino as we nosedived towards the lake. One we got within a few feet of the lake, we darted forward where the bottom of the Glider barely skimmed the top of the water. I let one arm go of Domino and touched the water a foot below with my free hand. The cold wetness on my warm hand felt nice.

The Glider slid to a stop on the section of land right next to the lake, and the flying vehicle vanished from underneath us, dropping Domino and I onto the soft and luscious grass.

We looked ahead where the lake met the horizon, and saw the sun setting, casting an orange glow over the water and turning the clouds and sky a pinkish color. Shadows of the individual blades of grass, and shadows of Domino and I, elongated as the sun set.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Domino asked me, placing a calming hand on my shoulder. "If this world looks so beautiful at this time of day…then how do the others look? Why would anyone block off the other worlds from this one? Why are we doomed to stay here for all eternity?"

"I couldn't tell you," I replied, putting my hands behind my head as I yawned. I fell over backwards, letting my head hit the soft grass. "Everything seems so simple and clean here…is it like this in other worlds?"

"I can't remember my life before Utopia," Domino replied. "Three years ago my parents helped the forging of the Keyblades…they gave me a Keyblade as well. Then they brought us here to bond as a family. Not long after, a barrier was created over this world. The Keybearers who had traveled here from Sanctuary can never leave."

"Tragic," I said silently as the sun was soon out of sight, and the pink sky now turned an eerie purple and the lake became dark. The wind was soothing and made the grass sway back and forth. "I always thought that this world was my home for a reason. Why is it my destiny to stay here?"

"So, you're finally realizing your fascination for the outside world, are you?" Domino asked me, and I shot my head up. I hadn't thought about that. I never knew I would ever want to leave a paradise like Utopia. What could lay beyond the barrier? "Looks like you're finally coming along, Kane Carter."

"I knew I'd find the two of you chatting down here," a voice said to the side, and Domino and I looked towards the voice. It was Tara, walking over to us from the direction of the bridge that was a few yards away.

"Hey, Tara," Domino said with the wave of his hand.

"Hey, Kane," she replied, completely ignoring Domino, and she started chuckling at his groaning of annoyance. She walked up to me and sat beside me, staring up at the sky. The sky was filled with bright stars that I knew, from Domino, that each star was a whole other world. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Sure is," I replied.

Domino dramatically flipped his long purple hair, and stood up straight, walking back towards the bridge without summoning his Glider again. "Coming? I'll walk the two of you home."

"Coming," I replied, standing up as I helped Tara to her feet. Tara and I started walking until we caught up with Domino, and the three of us continued walking up the grassy slope until we were on the bridge.

As we walked, we hadn't noticed that Domino had suddenly stopped. I made Tara halt as I looked behind us, and I saw Domino staring ahead with a blank stare in his silvery eyes.

"Domino?" Tara asked, slightly worried.

Domino's hair started blowing about in the wind. Which I then realized was weird. There _wasn't_ any wind blowing at that moment. Yet Domino's hair continued to sway. I snapped my fingers, and Domino's hair became still, and the boy became aware of his surroundings again.

"Coming," Domino replied, without much explanation as to what had happened. He caught up to Tara and I and we had eventually reached Kamikaze Home. "See ya tomorrow, Kane." We had bid my friend farewell as he walked across the street and to his own house.

Tara and I stepped into the house, were soon acquainted by Ibiki and the screaming Kale and Ty, and all of us had settled down for the night.

Before I had drifted off to sleep, I sat at my desk in my room and began writing about my day and what happened. It was almost like a storybook to me. And my photographic memory helped a whole lot. I could remember every quote, every action…everything.

And as I finish writing, I drift off into sleep.

.

**Did you like this chapter? As the title suggests, this chapter is just about the normal, everyday, simple and clean life of Kane Carter and Domino. What will happen next chapter? Only time will tell. PLEASE review! Have any questions? Ask me in the reviews, and I'll answer you right away. **


	3. From the Inside

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me. Warning: may contain blood and/or character death from this point on. Not really a spoiler.**

**…**

**From the Inside**

_"__Are you sure that finding a way to the outside world won't be dangerous?"_

_"__I have to see what lies beyond just Utopia. You're a Keybearer, like me. Think you can manage it?"_

_"__I was born ready for this moment. The Keybearers shall rise above and beyond this world."_

_"__But I want to bring my friend with me—no exceptions."_

_"__A non-Keybearer? Oh…are you talking about Kane?"_

The words, they kept playing in my mind as I slowly opened my eyes. A strange dream…all I saw was blackness, and the voices within the dream seemed hazy, as I couldn't hear them properly. Had they mentioned _me_? What was I thinking? It was only a dream.

A low rumble of thunder shook the air around me. I looked outside, but the sky was perfectly blue. Not a cloud in the sky. I slipped out of bed and headed for the door, but the minute my fingers touched the doorknob, the door swung open to reveal Tara there in her nightgown. "Good, you're awake," she said, obviously annoyed. "Started to think you would oversleep."

I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to get my vision to clear. I walked out of my room to hear the screaming voice of Kale. Tara scowled and covered her ears. And then someone rushed passed me…Domino? Domino ran down the hall away from me with Kale sitting on his shoulders and Ty attached to his leg.

"What's he doing here?" I asked Tara, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I woke up with him tapping on my window," Tara answered, obviously not happy with it. He's been here for about… thirty minutes. Kale and Ty really love him. He's great with children. Better than I thought he'd be…"

I barely listened to all she had to say. Without responding to her, I walked towards Domino, who whipped around at the sound of my feet clapping against the floor. "Hey, Kane!" he shouted, Kale soon dropping from his shoulders and falling to the ground with a thud, knocking Ty over.

"Why are you here?" I asked, though I knew I was going to get the most detailed answer that I really did not need.

"Well, you see, I wanted to come over here before you woke up, so whenever you do you can hurry up and get ready and then we can head over to school," Domino said without taking a breath. "Oh yeah, Tara let me in."

And with those words and with an awkward stare from Tara that showed her displeasure for Domino, I stepped into the bathroom to get ready for school.

**.**

On the way to school, the bright sun had stung at my eyes, but the faintest rumble of thunder can be heard in the distance. Still, I saw no clouds for as far as the eye can see. Domino noticed my eyes making contact with the sky and chuckled, saying, "Are you done yet? That thunder will never reach here, you know."

"You don't know that," I told him, walking slightly faster than him when we stepped onto campus. "So where are you going, Domino?"

"I've gotta see something for a teacher," Domino said, and then stared at the ground. "Before the bell rings you can go to the library and study some more for the project." Not making eye contact with me again, he darted off towards the building and walked in without looking back at me.

I shrugged it off and headed for the building as well, only to go upstairs and into the library where very few people were. It was only me, some girl, and the old librarian. I sat at a table and took the book _Keyblade Wielders_ from my backpack.

I started reading from where I last left off. Without realizing it, I had made it to very middle of the book. Up to this point, I learned a few things that I hadn't known before. There was a man by the name of Enix who was the true creator of the Keyblades. His whereabouts were unknown to the book.

Enix was one of the greatest Keyblade Masters out there and was the one who controlled the borders and barriers to the worlds, as well as directed the flow of the Lanes Between, the in-between realm in which all of the worlds in the vast multiverse were connected to.

I closed the book and tucked it away in a pocket in my backpack, slung the bag over my shoulder, and proceeded to exit out of the library. I had headed back downstairs and then to Mr. Brunner's classroom. When I got within a few feet of the classroom, a heard a voice say, "But I want to bring my friend with me—no exceptions."

Domino? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that those were the same words that were spoken…in my dream.

I peeked through the crack in the doorway. I saw Domino and Mr. Brunner, the only ones in the classroom. Brunner had his hands behind his back as he paced back and forth. "A non-Keybearer? Oh…are you talking about Kane?" There it was again. The exact words spoken in my dream! "No, I will not allow it."

I heard the unsheathing of metal as I saw Domino's cold metal Keyblade pressed against Brunner's neck. "I'm pretty sure that you are _not _the one orchestrating this operation, Elijah Brunner." The Keyblade vanished. "You seemed scared for a bit. I was only playing around." A mysterious glint of evilness in his eye appeared. "But Kane will be coming with us if our plan sees fruition."

"Why wouldn't this plan be a success?" Brunner yelled out. "We've got twenty on our side! Together we can—" The bell to officially start school rang throughout the classrooms and hallways. "—accomplish anything!"

Without entering, I decided to continue to see what exactly was going on here. Brunner walked to the back of the classroom to pick up a rusty old book that looked like a text book from over ninety years ago.

"It says here the sacrifice is needed," Brunner said, tracing his finger along the words in the book. "But it doesn't say… how many sacrifices! And what…is the sacrifice!?" The sound of a fist slamming on wood rang out, and I saw the splintering wood flying onto the ground as Brunner had slammed his fist down on a desk. "There are too many variables! Too many unknowns!"

Before things could escalate quickly, I knocked on the door and stepped inside. Domino's face lit up when he saw me, but Brunner's eyes stared me down as if I was the plague.

A single drop of sweat was seen dropping from Brunner's brow. His eyes darted from me, to Domino, and then to the ceiling, and then the ground. He seemed uneasy. But why? Was it because of what had just happened between him and Domino?

Students began entering the classroom and the deadly silence was now filled with the chatter of the entire class. I sat down next to Domino and said, "Why were you here so early?"

"I had to talk to Mr. Brunner about a project," Domino answered, obviously not telling the honest truth. I looked at him with eyes that basically said I didn't believe him, so he called out, "Mr. Brunner, come see!" The teacher walked to Domino and lowered his head towards him so he could hear my friend. "The project…it's all good, right?"

For a minute, I thought I saw a flickering light in Brunner's eyes, which reflected off of Domino's. Without speaking, Brunner gave off a wicked smile and stood up straight, walking to the front of the class. "Domino and I are conducting an experiment of sorts, children." Nearly everyone raised their eyebrow at that statement. "You remember the Keyblade I told you to research about." I was now curious. "Well…have a closer look at the _real thing_."

In a flash of light, the giant Key-shaped sword known as the Keyblade had materialized in Brunner's left hand. The entire weapon consisted of a black and white color scheme. The handle was a stark white bone. The tip of the blade was a skull, with several rows of sharp bones poking out that were obviously the teeth of the blade. "Skeleblade!"

That name was so simple for such a detailed blade…wait…I was missing the big picture here. Brunner was one of the twenty Keybearers? Is that why Domino and Brunner had made this _experiment_?

"Whoa, a Keyblade!" yelled someone from the back of the room.

"This world, cut off by the many others like it!" Brunner started, his long, scraggly gray hair blowing in a nonexistent wind. His glasses shined from the light of the light bulbs on the ceiling. He raised his glasses as he continued to talk. "You see before you, a Keyblade like no other. One fit to be wielded by one such as I! From the inside of this world are twenty Keybearers, and each are to aid in the destruction of this world's barrier! How would you like to see what's out there? What lies beyond the door to the outside world!"

Several kids cheered at that statement. Domino and I stayed silent. Domino looked a tad confused, but not as much as I was. "Elijah, what are you doing?" Domino asked.

Brunner ignored him. "Help me in the destruction of this barrier…by sacrificing yourselves!" The air suddenly seemed two times more chillier than it was. "Meet the cold steel blade that I hold before me!" He held out Skeleblade as a wind blew through the room and everyone's hair started flowing in the wind. "Let it be known that your sacrifices will not be in vain!" His eyes almost seemed…demonic. His eye color faded from dark blue to golden, and his pupils darted back and forth.

"What?" Domino shouted, and Brunner swung the Keyblade through the air, a hot white light shooting from its tip and slamming against the chest of an unsuspecting student. Said student flew from his desk and into the wall at the back of the room. The boy crumpled to the floor in pain. "What are you doing?"

"Domino, help me out!" Brunner shouted, holding his free hand out to Domino. "When Keybearers are together, our powers are joined! Don't you wanna get to the outside world that has been cut off from us!? Then help me sacrifice enough people so the barrier will shatter!"

He pointed his Keyblade at another student, and a white hot light shot from the tip. Before it reached the student, the white light began fading, getting darker. The warm feeling I felt from the once precious light started feeling cold and scary. The hair on the back of my neck and, well, everywhere else, stood on end. What was once a blast of light was now a blast of…blackness? The darkest thing I'd ever seen collided with the chest of that poor girl, and her body incinerated before our eyes. Gone in the blink of an eye.

"Black magic?" I asked. I had read about this form of magic. The complete opposite of light, this magic was darker than anything. A forbidden method of getting what you most desire. Black magic, or Dark Magic, was supposed to be… fictional. "How…?"

"Darkness…" Domino muttered in awe. "It isn't supposed to…exist…"

Darkness? Another name for Dark Magic? Brunner swung his Skeleblade, slicing through the bodies of three unsuspecting students. Their screams faded away as each of them died. "Everybody, get out of here now!" I yelled without much thinking, and every other student darted towards the doorway in fright.

"Don't leave me without a proper sacrifice!" Brunner shouted out, and vanished. Silence replaced the chaos. And then, in seconds, he reappeared in front of the doorway, blocking off the exit as he swung his Keyblade, slicing through the body of a student, blood splattering to the ground and staining Brunner's blade. "You non-Keybearers _have _to die, for us to truly see what's out there!"

He swung his Keyblade swiftly, his glasses falling off and clattering to the ground, the left lens shattering. "Do something!" I shouted at Domino, but he seemed to be in a trance. "Domino!"

Domino shook his head and jumped forward, slamming his now materialized Keyblade into the Skeleblade. "What the hell are you doing, Domino!?" Brunner screamed loudly. "We're working together!" He jumped back from Domino, and then rushed forward passed Domino and sunk his blade into a kid's neck, blood sputtering out and onto the floor, onto Brunner's shirt, and onto his face. He yanked his blade out of the neck of that kid, the kid falling to the ground, dead.

"Elijah!" Domino shouted. "What has gotten into you!?"

"You!" Brunner shouted, swinging his Keyblade at Domino, but Domino blocked it easily. Domino showed a face of confusion as Brunner backed away from Domino once again. I looked to the doorway. The last three students that were still alive had escaped passed Brunner as soon as Brunner and Domino exchanged blades.

"I've got it," Brunner muttered. "Time to make you kneel at my feet, Domino! I'm done with you calling the shots!" He blasted forward, a flurry of '_Darkness_' blowing about behind him as he rushed forward through the air. Immediately fear struck me. My eyes widened and blood dripped off of my bottom lip. I felt the cold Skeleblade sliding swiftly through my stomach. I looked down and saw my stomach covered in blade, the Skeleblade staying within my stomach. Brunner started laughing as he said, "Domino, how you like this!?"

"Kane!" Domino shouted. "Don't you _fucking_ touch him!" Domino held his hand out and a blast of…_Darkness_…escaped his palm, blasting towards Brunner. Brunner quickly withdrew his Skeleblade and I felt relief, but because of the intense pain and loss of blood, I fell over and hit my head on the ground. I looked up to see what was happening.

Brunner held out his free hand as the darkness Domino pushed forward reached him. The darkness collided with Brunner's hand and the two held their ground with a stream of darkness connecting the two. Brunner tried to push the darkness back, but it wouldn't budge Domino.

I saw a look of pure hatred in Domino's eyes. His silvery eyes glinted and took on a reddish tint. Blood leaked from his right eye. "Why…do you have this much darkness?" Brunner asked Domino, but Domino continued to scowl as he threw his Keyblade at Brunner, the blade now inches away from Brunner's chest.

In fear, Brunner let go of the darkness that Domino was pushing forward to avoid Domino's Keyblade. The Keyblade flew passed Brunner as he stepped to the side, but the darkness Domino was conjuring slammed into Brunner, and the man flew into the wall, sinking to the ground, his own Keyblade flying into the air above him.

"It is all your fault," Elijah Brunner muttered, looking breathless as blood soaked out of a mysterious wound in his stomach. "You supplied me with this darkness. You made me do this…all for your stupid goal of reaching the outside world!"

"What's he talking…" I muttered, feeling lightheaded. "…about?" What _did _he mean about Domino _supplying_ Brunner with darkness? How was that possible? And he said this was _Domino's stupid goal_, even though Brunner would kill for the opportunity to see the outside world.

"Don't listen to him, Kane," Domino muttered. "It's all over."

I had failed to remember the Skeleblade that was in the air, twirling above Brunner's fallen body. The blade fell down tip-first and pierced through Brunner's chest, possibly entering the man's heart.

"Ugh," Brunner muttered as his eyes slowly closed, his breathing lowering. In his last dying breath, a flurry of darkness shot from Brunner's now raised hand, and it aimed straight for me. Before it reached me, I could tell Brunner had just died.

"No!" Domino's voice screamed over me, and he jumped in the way of the blast of darkness, wrapping his arms around me. The darkness collided with his back, and the two of us fell to the floor. He was right on top of me, the darkness burning a hole in the back of Domino's shirt, and the blood seeping from my stomach wound which stained the front Domino's shirt.

"Domino…you could let go," I muttered, but Domino refused. He embraced me in the tightest hug ever. I coughed loudly to get him to hear me, so he immediately let go of me and pulled me up to my feet. I clutched my bloody stomach, and then raised my hand to see bright red blood dripping from my hand.

"Cura!" Domino shouted, raising his hand, and a warm glow flowed through my blood. It felt…nice, and warm, like lying on the beach next to the Lake of Destiny during the summer. The wound…I felt it closing up, and the blood seemed to vanish as well. "Are you alright?"

"What was Brunner's problem?" I asked Domino, standing up straight and staring into his eyes. My breathing was rapid and my heart beat went a mile a minute. I was scared out of my wits. "What was he talking about?"

"The man was crazy," Domino replied. "But he's gone now…" As if on cue, Brunner's body became solid black, and the body sunk into the shadows.

"Everyone…" I muttered to myself, looking around the room. Several desks were toppled over. Chairs and books littered the ground. And more disturbingly, bodies of dead students and blood littered the floor, staining the room red.

After that, not much happened. The principal had called an ambulance because that one kid who was hit with the light, the very first of Brunner's attacks, was still alive, but his ribs were broken and his left lung had taken a direct hit from the light. Only three others besides that kid, Domino, and I, were still alive. The other three had hit in the bathroom until the climax was over.

As with every investigation, a detective of sorts had called Domino and I into questioning because we were two of the only witnesses, and that Brunner had vanished from existence.

Domino and I sat side-by-side on a bench in an office within the Utopian Police Department. The man in front of us had his face shrouded by the fedora he was wearing. "And he just…sunk into the ground?"

"Yes," was my reply. Domino didn't really want to say much about what had happened, so I was the one answering all of the questions. "Into the darkness—"

"No such thing!" The man slammed his fist onto his desk. "Black magic, light magic, darkness, Keyblades…all a bunch of tomfoolery that I will not be messing with. What I am hearing from you is a long, drawn-out fairy tale. Now get out of here before I decide to throw you into jail for concealing a secret that can very well help in this investigation."

**.**

The rout home felt long. After stepping onto the steps at Kamikaze Home, without even bothering to knock or open the door, the door swung open on its own and arms wrapped around my neck in a warm embrace. I tried to break free from Tara's grip, but she wouldn't let go.

I could hear her faintly sobbing into my shoulder. "I heard…what happened…" Tara muttered quietly. "Are you…are you _two_ alright?"

"Just a little shaken up," Domino replied. "The guy was definitely on something. Why else would he kill almost the entire class—"

"He _killed_ most of the class!?" Tara asked, and gripped me tighter. Thanks a lot, Domino. I'd never hear the end of this from Tara. She'd become more protective of me than ever. "I'm glad…the two of you are alright."

"Thanks for the concern," Domino replied behind me, and from the sound of his footsteps he was walking away to his own place. "Bye Kane, bye Tara!"

His footsteps vanished as he was gone. After finally getting Tara to let go of me, I headed inside, got ambushed by Kale and Ty, and was showered with worry by Ibiki. When I headed off to bed that night, I began having a dream.

Another dream.

_"__Elijah's actions…just a simple setback. It shouldn't get in the way of our overall goal."_

_"__Then what shall we do…tomorrow?"_

_"__The ultimate sacrifice. Prepare for the border to be crushed, the barrier to be shattered, and the outside world to be _finally_reachable!"_


	4. New Divide

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me.**

…

**New Divide**

The tapping of water echoed off of the walls around me. The air shook and my entire body felt numb. High pitched screaming deafened me, and I clutched my hand into a fist to grab onto anything I could. It was futile. I felt nothingness all around me. A boom filled the air. Sounds of the shattering of glass filled my eardrum as I felt my head hit the floor.

I grabbed at the floor, but couldn't get a grip on anything that could help me up. Following the boom, the ground shook violently and I felt as if the ground would split in two underneath me. And then my eyes snapped open. I was laying on the ground next to my bed.

The floor was wet from the rain that was outside, and I saw that the window next to my bed had shattered, revealing the dark sky above. Every second, a new strike of lighting shot from the sky and hit the ground with such force that it destroyed everything in its path. Since my window was now completely open, the wind from outside blew my hair around my face as I tried to stand up. I slipped, fell over, and hit my head on the side of my bed.

I heard my door open, and the screaming of Tara came soon after. I was rolled onto my back so I could look into the eyes of Tara, who soon helped me to my feet and grabbed me in a hug. "Kane, what's happening!?" Tara screamed, looking genuinely frightened. "We never have weather like this!"

"I don't know," I replied silently, taking my cellphone off of the table to the side of my bed. I dialed Domino's number, but the usual answer machine took over, and I hung it up, upset. I looked to the broken window and another strike of lightning escaped the dark clouds above and slammed against the ground outside, sending a wave of painless yet definitely noticeable electricity through me and Tara's bodies. "Damn!" I shouted as the shaking that followed soon after knocked me off of my feet.

I tried standing again, Tara once again helping me up. Ibiki had stepped into my room then, both Kale and Ty on each of his shoulders, wrapping their arms around the man's neck as he pulled no sweat keeping the two up. "We need to get to shelter, Kane, Tara!"

Tara nodded, but I released myself from her grip and yelled out, "I have to go find Domino!" Before I allowed Ibiki and Tara to protest, I rushed past them and fled out of my room, stomping my way downstairs and into the living room where glass and wood littered the ground. The door had blown right off of its hinges, the chandelier that normally hung above had crashed into the ground, and each of the windows was shattered.

I ran outside…big mistake. A wind stronger than anything I've encountered before had pushed me to the side, and I flew back into the house. I stood up again and made a mad dash for the outside. This time I had more luck and was able to get across the street, where Domino's house was, the door gone and each window shattered. The roof was caved in.

"Oh god," I said between shaky breaths. I cautiously stepped into the house. Things were scattered everywhere. I looked above to where the ceiling and roof caved in, letting rotting wood and things from their attic scattered across the living room floor. Underneath a pile of rubble was someone I recognized…Domino's mother. "No!" I ran to her and saw her more clearly. Her eyes were wide open in shock as if she had just seen something that would've scarred her for life. Her left eye was bloodshot, and blood leaked from under the rubble that crushed her.

She was dead. "Stop…him…" a raspy voice said from behind me. I whipped around and saw Domino's father in the corner of the room, covered in blood, as he began walking, or rather, limping towards me. "Kane Carter…stop him."

"Stop who!?" I yelled out, rushing to him. But it was too late. The man fell over before we reached each other, and his head hit the floor. His mouth opened in shock as blood dribbled down his lips. He was dead as well. In his bare back was a gash that looked as though he was stabbed. Blood poured from the wound. I winced at how horrible the sight looked.

I then heard the sound of cracking glass. I looked to the source of the noise. The only thing in the house that was still intact. On a broken shelf in the other corner of the room was a glass picture frame with a photo of Domino and I in it. Domino wore that cheesy grin of his with one arm around me. This was maybe around a year ago. Had he still kept that old photo?

The cracking sound came from that picture frame. A large crack had appeared in between the two of us. I walked closer to it when it happened. The side of the crack that Domino was on shattered, while the side with me on it remained calm and intact.

"What the hell?" I asked myself. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked to my side and saw Tara, staring up into my eyes. "Tara?"

"You want me to help you find Domino?" she asked. Why would she even want to help him? I thought she hated him to death. "Let's go check the Lake of Destiny."

That was a good idea. "Where are Kale, Ty, and Ibiki?" I asked, now realizing they weren't here.

"Basement," Tara replied. "Let's go now—" What sounded like an explosion erupted outside, and jolts of electricity filled my body and I fell to the ground. "It struck the house?"

"Come on!" I replied, standing up, grabbing Tara's hand, and the two of us ran out of Domino's house and headed for the bridge that overlooked the Lake of Destiny. Once on the bridge, we looked off of the edge to the lake. The water looked almost purple in the dark underneath the clouds. The waves were rushing fastly because of the fierce winds that threatened to blow Tara and I away. The water looked ready to overflow and escape that lake.

What was weird though was that sixteen people stood around the left side of the lake, each with a Keyblade in hand and pointing towards the sky. Among them though was not Domino. I couldn't see him anywhere. As if reading my thoughts, Tara said, "Um, I found him."

I followed her gaze to the center of the lake. A few feet above the lake, floating in the air, was Domino, his Starlight pointed towards the sky and his right hand towards the water. How the hell was he even floating like that without his glider?

I looked at all seventeen Keybearers. Shouldn't there have been twenty? Oh, that's right! Flashes of Mr. Brunner dying by his own Keyblade, and of Domino's parents in their dying states flashed through my head. Three Keybearers were dead, and seventeen remained.

"Ah, Kane, you've made it!" Domino shouted out, his eyes darting from the sky to me. His lips curled around his cheeks in a wicked smile as he said, "Oh, I see you brought Tara with you."

"What are you doing, Domino!?" I shouted towards him, and he flew from where he was straight to the bridge, placing his bare feet on the ground as he was now face-to-face with me. "What is this?"

"The true destiny, Kane, so behold!" Domino shouted, motioning his hand to the other sixteen Keybearers. From each Keyblade came a dark light…no…it was darkness. Each beam of darkness shot to the sky and escaped beyond the clouds. "Behold what I was always destined to do! Opening up the barrier!"

The clouds directly above the lake parted, revealing a circle of light in the middle of all of the dark clouds, shining a bright light upon the lake and making it glow from purple to pink. "What the…" Tara said to the side of me. "Domino, stop whatever it is you're doing!"

"You mean creating a destiny designed just for me and Kane!?" Domino asked, staring at Tara. "Kane and I will live on beyond this world! Now…the barrier shall be crushed!" He clenched a fist, and what I heard next pierced through my eardrums. The shattering of glass was heard all around me, and Tara and I immediately clutched our ears at the loud noise. The rain poured full throttle now. Waterspouts started to funnel out of the lake and towards the now black sky. "Side by side with light is darkness, the entity that truly makes up our world!"

"Domino!" a voice yelled, and running onto the bridge and to where Tara and I stood was Ibiki, with Ty on his shoulder and Kale to his side. "What are you doing!?" He never got his answer. Domino held a hand out and blasted darkness from his palm, which collided with Ibiki's body and sent him and Ty flying off of the bridge and into the lake.

"Ty!" Tara shouted, staring out to the blackening water of the lake. The heads of Ibiki and Ty bobbed up and out of the water. Good, they were safe. "You monster! And I thought you were my friend." But she _hated_ the guy! "If Ty gets hurt because of something you did, I will _end_ you."

"How?" Domino asked with that smug smile of his. "You don't have any powers. I have the Keyblade on my side, and what do you have? Oh, that's right. Nothing." Tara scowled at that. Domino rose ten feet into the air and said, "Kane, you're coming with me to the outside world! We can be together forever! Without anything stopping our true destiny!"

Against my will, my feet lifted off of the ground. With Tara screaming underneath me for me to come down, I noticed that I had risen into the air to where I was even with Domino. His long purple hair blew dramatically in the wind, and he reached his hand forward, grabbing my hand in his. The clouds above me parted to reveal the black sky that was beyond it. Without warning, a black strike of lightning shot from the opening in the clouds and slammed into my body.

What I felt was unreal. A loud booming in my ears, each hair on my body standing on in, and more importantly, a burning sensation on my scalp that felt as though my hair was being lit on fire. My ears were ringing as my teeth shook and my entire body tingled from the massive amounts of electricity entering my body.

"KANE!" I heard the voice of Tara scream below me. I opened my eyes. I was lying in Domino's arms as he blasted himself towards the sky like a rocket. I looked below me…to see Tara hanging on to Domino's foot, trying to keep herself from falling. Handing onto the back of her shirt was Kale who decided to try and help Tara out, screaming her name over and over again.

"Tara!" Kale Kamikaze screamed out, and Tara had finally realized that the kid had latched himself onto her without her realizing.

Domino looked down, scowled, and then smiled as we inched ever closer to the black sky. "I guess you'd like to have friends along for the ride, eh, Kane?" I decided not to answer Domino. "That's okay! As long as we're together!"

I shook my head, recovering from that shock the lightning had given me, and looked below. The lake was completely overflowing. The water had risen so much in so little time that the water had barely passed over the bridge. Ibiki and Ty were somewhere below, but I could not see them any longer. The sixteen Keybearers below had all vanished. I could not see where they had gone.

And then we broke through the clouds. Beyond the clouds was nothing but blackness. I closed my eyes, hoping the ride would soon end. When I opened them again, I was sitting on a flat surface, with Domino standing by my side and Tara and Kale lying on their backs, utterly exhausted.

"Where…" I muttered, but soon realized where I was. From the looks of it, we were in…space? No, that's not the word for it. Domino had called this something before…I remember it. It was the Lanes Between, a mystical road leading to every other world imaginable. I stood up shakily and ran over to Tara and Kale. The three of us took in the sights together.

The sky was black, but thousands upon thousands of shining stars littered the entire place. The ground we were standing on looked like a road. It looked shiny like a crystal, and it went forward, spiraled, and zigzagged, many different crossroads heading off to the many different stars. I looked back to Domino, who stood in front of the bright shining star that I guessed was our home of Utopia.

The barrier that separated our world from the Lanes Between had been shattered, and the road now connected to the ball of light. I had always thought that stars would burn you up if you got close to it. But this one…as close as it may be…just gave off a fresh, warm light. But that feeling of warmth faded and was replaced with an eerie, dark feeling. The white of the star fade away to black, until it was just a swirling ball of darkness.

"What happened?" Kale asked in that innocent voice of his.

Domino answered, "We broke through the barrier. We now have unlimited access to the rest of the worlds! The road we stand on now is one of many roads within the Lanes Between. Each road leads to a different world. This mast multiverse is just waiting for Kane and I!"

"What the hell kind of story are you making up?" Tara asked, stomping her way over to Domino. "We cannot be off of our world…right, Kane?" I stared at her blankly. I was at a loss for words. She lifted up Kale and put him sitting on her shoulders. "Ibiki and Ty…they're…"

"Sacrificed," Domino replied. "Shattering that wall that divided here and there needed a worthy sacrifice. You three are not a part of that sacrifice. And now the other Keybearers can be free forever. Not locked up in that prison of a world. Welcome to the outside!"


	5. Disenchanted

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me. The words from here on may be Kingdom Hearts original worlds, Disney movies, other franchise movies, or based off of events that happened in the real world, or even worlds that I created myself. The world in here is a world that could be based off of real events in history.**

**…**

**Disenchanted**

Hearing Domino and Tara snap back and forth at each other was really starting to piss me off. They fought for so long I had taken out my journal and started playing a tick-tack-toe game with Kale. Of course I let him win to make him feel better. I looked up from my game when Tara screamed, "You _murdered _Ty for your own agenda?" She wiped a tear from her eye and continued; "_Now_ I have a reason to hate you."

"You don't know what it was like," Domino replied, a tear of his own shedding in his left eye. "Looking at all of these stars, brings back some of the really old memories. Me and my family lived in the world where the Keyblades were created. We lived a fantastic life. Me, my parents, my uncle, and my brother and sister, along with two cousins. My parents became Keybearers, and soon passed that power to me. Not long after the invention of the Keyblade, Utopia wanted nothing to do with it. So they passed a law to keep all of its citizens inside. Some tried to escape, so the mayor of Utopia called upon the Keybearers to lock away the world from the rest. To seal the world shut, they needed twenty Keybearers. Seventeen, plus me and my parents. But we could only close it off from the inside. So once the world's barrier was created, all of the Keybearers chosen…were trapped inside."

"So you never got to see your other relatives again, or any of your old friends," Tara replied, now taking on a sad look. "And let me guess…only twenty Keybearers could unlock the barrier again."

"Creating a barrier is one thing, but destroying one is another," Domino said grimly. "A massive sacrifice was needed. But now we can see what's truly out there. See these lanes? The one that connects all of the worlds and whatever's in between? It's what connects us to our destiny, Kane."

Tara looked at him angrily and stomped over to him. "Ibiki and Ty are probably _dead_," Tara grumbled. "My brother should've come with us."

"Don't be mad," came the small voice of Kale, and he stood up, scurrying his way to Tara and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You still got me and I won't go nowhere!"

"Thanks," Tara said, bending down and giving the smaller boy a hug back. "Well now that we're out of our world then…" She looked at Domino angrily as she said that. "What other world can we go to, to settle down in?"

"The nearest one?" I suggested. My voice felt a little off, like I hadn't spoken in years. Tara looked to me and then gasped. "What's…wrong?" I asked, now confused as she made her way slowly towards me.

"You're hair…there's a silver streak going down the middle," she muttered. She took a small mirror out of her pocket—so convenient, right?—and I looked into it. As she had said, a silvery streak went down the center of my hair, the same color as Domino's eyes. "What had that lightning done to you?"

"I think it's a great look for you, Kane," Domino interjected. "I'd keep that color, if I were you." _Thanks for the support, Domino_. "The lightning that struck you earlier must have had altered your DNA structure a little and has turned your black hair to silver. Anyway, enough about hair—" I pocketed the small mirror. "Let's go to that world!" He pointed to a glowing orb of light that definitely _wasn't_ the nearest one to us. He made his Starlight appear on command, and he threw it into the air, the Keyblade disappearing beyond the dark black starry sky. It came back like a boomerang as his Keyblade Glider, and he immediately jumped on it, pulling me onto it as well.

"Hey, wait up!" Kale shouted, jumping onto it behind me, beckoning Tara to join us as well. As if like magic—which I guess, Keyblades _were _magic—the Glider elongated and was now able to fit four people. Tara lifted up Kale and had him wrap his arms around her neck, while she wrapped her arms around my stomach, as I did the same with Domino. "Let's go! I wanna see how flying works! I've seen you do this before, ya know!"

Domino smiled and said, "I love the fire in that heart of yours, little one." At least he was able to keep his loving of children even after supposedly murdering all of Utopia. He was still more of a parent than anyone I knew. Probably enough of a parent to match Ibiki. "Now let's go!"

Immediately, the Glider rose off of the crystal road beneath us and then flew forward. He steered us in a direction towards a certain ball of light, which grew warmer and warmer as we neared it. After we were within a few feet from it, the Glider vanished from underneath our feet. Domino looked back to me, took my hand, and walked into the light, me right behind him. Kale was a little shaky at first, but then decided to run in after us. Tara did the same.

The light had overtaken us. Within seconds the warmth vanished, and was replaced by the cool night air. The sky was black, with only a few stars visible. We were standing in the middle of what looked like a forest. Trees stretched up all around us, and small animals raced away from us at our arrival.

"Where are we?" I asked. Domino didn't know, as shown by his silence. And that's when I heard it. The mumbling of someone from somewhere near where we were. "You hear that?" Domino ignored me and stepped forward, walking away from our group and deeper into the forest. "Domino? Wait up." I growled at him and stepped forward.

Tara and Kale reluctantly followed me as we tried to catch up with Domino, going deeper into the black forest. Suddenly Domino stopped. I ended up bumping into him from the lack of light. Suddenly, his face was illuminated with a reddish glow coming from ahead. I saw a pile of logs and branches, covered in fire.

Standing behind the fire that began to grow was a person who didn't look older than sixteen. Her long brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her eyes were a piercing blue. Dark shadows lay under her eyes as if she had barely slept in ages. The both of her hands hung over the fire as if to keep warm…at least that's what it seemed like.

She twirled her hands in the air above the fire, gradually putting them closer to the fire until they were actually within the fire. At her command, the fire began swirling into a vortex and rose above her as she twirled her hands. It was as if she were magic.

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder when I was to get caught," the girl muttered rather loudly, enough for me to hear at least. Kale hid behind Tara, gripping the back of her shirt shakily and wouldn't let go. "Though it is not whom I thought it was."

"And who are you, Miss Magic?" Domino said, walking forward with no fear whatsoever. I hesitantly followed him into the clearing; a circle of grass in the center of the forest, where the fire had now grown exponentially, a vortex of fire escaping past the trees.

"Hehe, the time has arrived," the girl spoke, and the fire dropped, extinguishing almost instantly, and we were bathed in darkness once again. The girl never spoke up again.

"What in the Hell happened to that light?" a voice said suddenly. A man's voice. He couldn't have been over thirty at least. Suddenly we saw light again. Lamps lit with fire hung from the man's hands. Three people were behind him. The man had dark hair and dark eyes, with slightly tanned skin. "Were it the Devil's spawn?"

"And who are these four?" one of the man's followers asked. "They do not look like Salem citizens, Governor Thomas."

The man who had first spoken, Thomas, stared at the four of us in confusion. "They be not dressed like us. You four playin' with witchery, aren't ya?" At those simple words, the clicking of guns were made all around us. There were at least three guns pointed in our direction. I had never seen one this close up before. Kale screamed when the men pulled out these guns, and hid further behind Tara. "What was that there light?"

I almost stepped forward to start telling this guy off, but Domino simply put a hand on my chest to push me back, and he stepped forward, holding a hand out to Thomas as if to get the middle-aged man to shake it. Thomas didn't look too pleased.

"What you saw earlier was a fire, good sir," Domino said in his attempt at a polite voice. "There was a girl here. We simply ended up meeting up with her, but it appears she disappeared. Maybe that's what brought you here."

"Do you know the _name_ of this girl?" one of the men behind Thomas asked. Domino shook his head, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly with a nervous grin smeared across his face. "And what are you doing in Devil's Woods?"

"Devil's Woods?" Tara asked, utterly clueless. "Is that what this forest is called?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Thomas snapped at her, causing Tara and Kale to jump backwards in surprise. "I never leave the town of Salem often, but that doesn't make me oblivious. There be something weird about the four of you. Be you a witch!?" Even though he didn't show it, I couldn't help but think he was directing that absurd comment to Tara.

"Witch?" Tara asked, throwing her hands into the air as if to protect herself. "What does that even mean?"

A gun was immediately pressed at her throat. "If ye be a witch, then ye will be surviving this anyway," the person who held the gun said in a gruff voice. "Governor Thomas, she be hanged by sunrise. Let's bring her in."

"_Hanged_?" I asked with a shaky voice. We had learned about all of this in school. In some places in the universe, for doing bad things, they would get hanged for it. A rope tied around their neck, and they would be forced to choke to death. We were in a world that had these types of laws. "No, we won't allow it!"

"Right," Domino said and stood next to me, arms crossed. "You can't take this poor girl!"

"Are ye helpin' a witch?" the gruff voiced man asked loudly. "Then ye all be witches! Kill the lot of them!"

"I don't think so!" Domino yelled, and in his hand appeared Starlight. Thomas's eyes grew wide, and the three men following him each stepped back a few feet. "You see, I am a powerful witch capable of more than you could ever realize. I am from a world far away from here, a place that you couldn't even imagine about! And now, with my witchcraft, I will slaughter all of you!"

Ah, good old Domino, always with the theatrics. Thomas drew his own small gun from a holster on his belt, and he pointed it to Domino. "Witch! You shall die before morrow comes!" A bullet escaped the gun, and before it could even get near Domino, he swung Starlight, and it deflected the bullet, sending the projectile towards one of Thomas's men, going straight through the gruff man's neck. "You're all going to burn in hell for that!"

He pointed a gun to Kale. "So young," he continued. "But if he allies with you, then he must be a witch as well!" And he fired a bullet towards Kale, who Tara tried to shield. The bullet neared Tara, and I screamed out in anger. Immediately, I felt a rush of energy escape my being. My hair stood up on end, and my eyes felt like they were burning. I looked to my hands and saw yellow energy surrounding them.

_Lighting_ shot from my fingertips and flew at the bullet. Once the lightning hit the bullet, it slowed it down and made it fall to the ground. "How…" I muttered. I looked to Domino, who smiled at what I had just done. I couldn't help but smirk as well, proud of what I did to protect Tara and Kale. I saw Thomas's scared glare, and I pointed the palm of my hand at him menacingly, causing him to back up.

"You're all…" he muttered, unsure of what to say. "You're all freaks! The Devil may have won this day, but come tomorrow all you witches shall face the flames of hell where ye belong!"

With his two remaining bodyguards, Thomas fled the scene. Domino, looking proud of me, swung his hand through the air, and I did the same, and we gave each other a high-five. Our feeling of victory was short lived as we heard the shout of Kale.

I whipped my head around, turning to Kale. But…Tara wasn't there. Kale immediately yelled, "Tara's gone! What happened to her?"

I twisted my body all around trying to see if I could locate Tara, but she wasn't within my line of sight. The sound of clapping sounded directly behind me, and I turned back around to see that it wasn't Domino. Now standing in between Domino and I was that girl from earlier who had conjured the fire.

"Abigail," the girl said, most likely replying to Domino's earlier question that she had vanished too early to even answer. Abigail looked into my eyes, and then to Domino's, and then down at Kale. "The one you call Tara is long gone. By now, she is already in the clutches of that evil witch who wants to murder the entire town."

"How can we find her?" Kale yelled out bravely, though still looking pretty frightened. Abigail bent down and put a finger underneath Kale's chin, making the child smile and blush.

"The evil witch is most likely going to pin all of the blame on Tara," Abigail replied. "If that happens, your friend's as good as dead where she's going." Kale jumped at that statement. "She'll be hanged, burned, or drowned depending on Deputy Governor Thomas's mood."

"What exactly is a witch? Some woman with powers of magic and stuff like that?" Domino asked.

Abigail laughed at him. "Thomas says he discovered the witches. What a witch is, is someone from Hell sent straight from the Devil himself, the almighty bad guy. Witches take the place of some person, male or female, in town, and nobody really notices the difference. Here, if you're accused of being one, you'll be killed, innocent or not."

"Where is _here_?" Kale decided to say. We can't reveal that we're from another world! Sure, Domino said that earlier, but only to pose as a witch. This girl, Abigail, knows we're not witches, so she may be suspicious!

"Salem, of course," Abigail muttered, not really showing that much confusion. "And to answer the question on your mind, Domino—" She looked to Domino and smiled. "—yes, I _am _a witch, but not one that's trying to kill the town. Heavens, no."

"Help us find Tara," I said, but Domino quickly interjected.

"Forget about her, Kane!" I stared at Domino like he had just claimed himself as being the Devil. "Just consider her one of the mighty sacrifices needed to open the door and be free!" I know he didn't say any specifics about our world, but still, what he had just said must've confused Abigail at least a _little bit_.

"You want me to let her go!?" I asked. "You don't care about anyone except for yourself and these selfish goals of traveling the worlds." Okay, at this point, I didn't really care if I confused the hell out of Abigail. She just stood there and watched the whole show as it played out. "Did Ibiki and Ty mean nothing to you!?"

"You're the only one that means something to me, Kane!" Domino shouted out. Oh, one of these speeches again. "The others don't have the connection that we do! None of them would be fun to travel with! All Tara's done is complain so far since we left! She claims to be my friend, but if she was, she would have been supportive and have been accepting of—"

"Accepting of _what_, Domino!?" I yelled at him. "At her own _brother's _death!?" This time Domino silenced. We had never really had an argument like this before. Kale was now cowering next to Abigail who put a comforting hand on his shoulder to calm the boy down. "I thought I could accept the Keyblade in my life…I can't. Just go. I'll find Tara myself without your help."

I turned from him and began running out the woods, when his hand grabbed hold of my shoulder. "Kane, listen, I'm sorry," Domino muttered, a hint of sadness finally showing in his once eccentric, hyperactive voice. "All I wanted to do was leave the world I was forced to be trapped in. And to leave with my best friend. You. The only one I care about. More so than my parents or any other Keybearer." I looked to Domino, who had a tear in his eye. "I'll help you find Tara." He walked over to Kale, lifted him up, and put him sitting on his shoulder. "Abigail, can you locate this _evil witch_ for us?"

"Yes," Abigail replied, putting her arms up in the air. Her eyes seemed to glow a reddish color. "I've found her." She twirled her hands in the air, and I suddenly felt reality slipping away from me. My eyes closed, and when I opened them, four walls and an old door surrounded me. "Here we are."

We were in an old wooden shed of some sort, with no windows. Only a door was there, and it seemed locked by the looks of it. Domino, Kale, Abigail, and I stood in the middle of the room. Towards the back corner was Tara, her eyes closed.

"Watch out," Abigail said, sensing that I was about to walk forward towards Tara. "That's not the Tara you are familiar with."

Tara's eyes opened. Her pupils were not there, and the color of her eyes seemed to sparkle white, shining us in the eyes, nearly blinding us. Her hair was styled more upward, no hair falling over her shoulders like earlier. "Hello," she said in a voice that seemed to radiate energy throughout the entire room.

"Hello, Juiz," Abigail said as if she knew the person who seemed to have possessed Tara. "It's been a while sense we've seen each other. Got a new vessel already? It's a little too soon for that, isn't it?"

Abigail, or rather, Juiz, just stared Domino, Kale, and I as if trying to place our names in her mind. A white light seemed to radiate around her whole body, filling my body with warmth. This didn't feel like an evil feeling, or anything demonic for that matter.

"Stay away from Abigail," Juiz said, and suddenly, Kale lurched forward and flew across the room, landing on his feet safely to the side of Juiz. "Abigail is the evil darkness in this world that I plan to stop."

"I knew having Tara would lead you to the perfect host, Juiz," Abigail said between laughs. "That's why I sent her to you. As soon as you possessed her, I knew you were back in town. Twenty years since your last vessel? Or maybe ten?"

"Okay, so…who's the bad guy here?" Domino asked, scratching the back of his head. "I'm a tad lost. Can someone fill me in—" Domino was slammed in the back by fire, sending him across the room and into the wall, barely slamming into Kale and Juiz. "Whoa, okay, it's Abby."

"Abigail," Juiz ignored the Domino that was lying next to her. "You are a darkness that needs to be destroyed! Only light shall remain! Every darkness purged!" Holding a palm out, a blast of…_light_…shot towards Abigail, who simply reflected it with a line of fire that exited her own palm.

"Just…what are you?" Domino asked, staring at Juiz. "Why did you possess…_my friend_!"

"I need a vessel to destroy the great darkness," Juiz replied simply without going into any detail. "My cause is to make the light stronger and to purge the darkness that lies deep within this world. The darkness is supposed to be nonexistent, but it found its way out of its dark realm and has made its way among the light. A place it should not be."

Domino stood up and Starlight appeared in his hand. Domino had used the power of darkness before, so does that mean Juiz would soon come after him? Domino didn't seem to be thinking about that. He ran at Abigail, swinging his Starlight as a mix of black and white shot from the tip, slamming into Abigail and pushing her back. Abigail created a wall of fire in front of her, cancelling out the beams of light and darkness caused by Domino's blade.

I pointed my finger to her, and just like earlier that night, lightning had shot out of it, homing straight on Abigail. Abigail jumped out of the way, only to have her stomach pierced by an incoming Keyblade. Domino stood behind her, his Keyblade in her back and poking out of her front. Blood began to dribble from her lips. "How…?" she muttered, quite shocked.

"I got passed your defense, Abby," Domino said with a smile. "Like Juiz said, the darkness must be purged." He yanked Starlight out of her back, and Abigail burst into flames, a fiery hot air swirling around in the room, lighting all four walls on fire.

Abigail's physical body was reduced to ashes, but within the fire was the swirling form of a pair of eyes, staring straight at Domino with anger. The flaming eyes vanished, and the piercing cry of Abigail startled us. After a while, we noticed that Abigail's spirit was no longer with us.

The door to the now burning shack was kicked open, and a dark silhouette entered the room. "Hey, Domino, stop him!" I yelled, pointing to the black silhouette behind the flames of the doorway. He jumped into the fiery shack, some of his pants legs getting scorched. I saw that the man was none other than that Governor, Thomas.

He wrapped his arms around Tara's body that was inhabited by Juiz, and he threw the girl outside of the doorway, getting her away from the fire. Domino immediately rushed to Thomas, who had already left the scene. Before following after him, he grabbed hold of Kale, who was flinching at all of the fire that surrounded us. Domino, with Kale now on his shoulders, jumped out of the doorway. I followed him. We had all made it onto the safe, green grass, without getting burnt to a crisp like Abigail.

Domino and I looked up from the grass, and saw a thing that looked like the gallows we've learned about back in Utopia, the main instrument used for hanging people. Thomas stood on the wooden floor underneath the old rope that hung down from the top of it, wrapping the rope around Juiz's neck. Her eyes were closed.

Then her eyes opened. She started to struggle and screamed, "Kane, Domino, somebody help me!" That didn't sound like Juiz. Had she left her body at the last minute to avoid dying within Tara or something? She could have saved Tara, but now Tara had a rope tied around her neck. She was on top of a few wooden steps, and if she were to fall off of those steps, she would be, of course, hanged. Just like in all of our Utopian history text books.

Thomas was on the top step, right behind Tara, who had her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. Thomas had a menacing hand touching her back as if threatening to push her. "This is a lesson to all you witches!" Thomas looked at me and Domino. Kale started to whimper at the sight of Tara being hurt like that. "Don't mess with Thomas! I am ridding Salem of you dreadful Devil's spawns once and for all!"

"Juiz, please save her!" I yelled out, and Domino stared at me sadly as I called for someone who probably wouldn't show up again.

But suddenly, Tara's eyes began to glow white, and a bright aura surrounded her, blinding Thomas. "What the hell!?" he shouted. When the light died down, the rope had vanished, and Tara, now possessed by Juiz, had jumped off of the gallows and onto the ground. But her victory was short-lived. A gun was pressed against the back of Tara's head. "You're being damned back to Hell!"

Domino ran towards the two with his Keyblade outstretched, leaving Kale with me as he rushed forward. Tara's eyes then became their natural color. Thomas began pulling the trigger. The minute he pulled the trigger, he was slammed to the side by Domino, the gun flying out of his hand and the bullet shooting at Domino. The bullet entered Domino's foot, and in that confusion he…sliced Starlight into who he thought was Thomas. But when I saw who he stabbed, a tear ran down my cheek.

Tara was impaled by Starlight, the tip poking out of her back. "What…?" Domino muttered to himself, holding onto his Starlight Keyblade, the tip now stained in Tara's blood. "Tara!" Kale and I screamed out, and Domino couldn't take his eyes off of the Tara he had just impaled.

"Dom…ino…" Tara muttered, blood leaking from her bottom lip and down her chin, dripping onto the grass below. "You didn't…mean to…did you?" Domino's face soon became red, and tears started to flood from his eyes, but he remained calm and chose not to break down right then and there. He shook his head at Tara's question. "Good…"

Tara fell to the ground and onto her back, the Starlight getting pushed even deeper into her. "_TARA_!" Domino screamed, immediately taking out Starlight from her stomach and throwing it to the side, it vanishing once it got within ten feet away from him.

"Ty…" Tara muttered, her eyes slowly closing. Even in her condition, she still wanted to see her brother again.

"Tara, hold on!" Domino screamed out, putting his hands over the fallen and dying girl. "Cura!" Nothing happened. "CURA!" Still, the green light did not wash over Tara like it would if he normally healed someone. "Damn…CURA! _CURA!" _Domino punched the ground. He them slammed his hands onto Tara's shoulders and screamed with all of his might, "**_CURAGA!_**" A small green spark exited his hands, but still, Tara did not stir. "Oh no…" He looked to me with sad eyes. "Kane, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

I couldn't believe what had happened. Kale was now sobbing into my shoulder after I had fallen onto my knees. Tears streamed down my face, onto the grass.

"She's dead!" Thomas shouted from somewhere behind Domino. He was laying in the grass with a huge smirk on his face. "Yes, the damn witch is dead!" He stood up and looked to Domino. Domino snapped his head towards Thomas and leaped forward from the dead Tara.

Without flinching, he jammed Starlight into Thomas's neck, then quickly slid it out, Thomas's head falling off of his shoulders, completely cut off. Thomas's body fell down beside his disembodied head. Kale flinched at the sight of all the blood in the field. I looked behind us to the burning shack…which wasn't even on fire anymore. In fact, it wasn't even there anymore. All that was there was a pile of ashes.

Kale had stopped crying and said, "Tara…big sister…at least…she's with Ty now, right?"

"Right," Domino said, stepping towards us. He grabbed Kale's hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort the poor boy. Domino had accidentally killed one of the people I cared about the most…Tara. Domino still looked shaken up, and grabbed my hand as well. "Dear friends…my dear Kale, and my sweet, sweet Kane…we need to find a new world. One that doesn't have crazy laws. Then we won't have a friend…die…like one did today. Right?"

I nodded my head, and wiped my tears. But it _wasn't_ going to be _alright_. Our friend was dead because of a simple mistake that Domino had made. I wasn't mad at Domino, but I was still angry at him from earlier. At least these tears over Tara's death had shown a heart in him after all. He actually cared for her.

And then I felt my feet leaving the ground. Domino had blasted himself upward, holding onto Kale and I's hands, and the three of us flew to the sky without the need of Domino's Keyblade Glider. Wherever we were to go to next, we had to hope that none of us would get hurt there.

"Now, Tara, sleep in peace," Domino said, his eyes still tearing up. In his left hand appeared Starlight, and a light shot from it as he pointed it downward. It hit Tara's body, and she slowly sunk into the ground like she was a ghost. And then we felt warmth, and we had our bodies encased in a bright light. We were soon to be back on the Lanes Between.

Tara Skye…rest in peace…

**...**

**Sorry I had to kill Tara Skye off. But the way my story plays out, I really can't have her around towards the end. Well, now it's only Kane Carter, Domino, and Kale Kamikaze left. If you haven't realized by now, this chapter is sort of based on the Salem Witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts a long while back, though the witches ****_weren't_**** real, but in here they were. So...hope you liked the world, as well as the future ones I have plans for. Remember, I will NOT only be focusing on Disney. I'll also have ACTUAL places as well as places I've MADE up.**


	6. Castle of Glass

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me.**

**…**

**Castle of Glass**

**_"_****_Hi, my name's Tara! What's your name?" "Kane, you're the one I care about the most." "Aww, why does Domino get to wield the Keyblade!? Why not me?" "I'd really like to have superpowers; something to make me stand out from all the rest." "I wanna be able to fly, soar through all these worlds when I get older!" "I hear that each of these bright white stars are the many other worlds! Which one…did Domino come from?" "I'm sick of just being ordinary! I wanna be special like Domino!" "To be honest, I was always jealous of Domino and his powers." "Hey, Kane, welcome back!" "I'm glad…the two of you are alright."_**

Standing on the crystalized road that was properly titled the Lanes Between; I couldn't help but cry to myself silently for the loss of Tara. She wanted to be a special person like Domino. She wanted to have super-human abilities. And she had always wanted to see the other worlds. But never in a million years had she imagined she'd _actually_ do it. And her price for wanting something more of her life was death in _another_ world. Falling onto my knees, I sobbed quietly into my lap.

Kale approached me and tried to cheer me up, saying comforting things like how she would now be in heaven with Ty and Ibiki right now as a family. Even in this dire situation of having one of my closest friends…more like an actual sister…Kale still was able to make me smile. That kid's a lifesaver.

I chuckled at all of his kind words and replied back, "Yeah…I guess you're right. Tara must be happy where she is." But was she really happy? Just having me agree with Kale wasn't enough, so to please Kale I looked to Domino and said, "What do you think, Domino?"

"I'm sorry," Domino mustered out. His face was still red and his eyes looked bloodshot. He was really upset about accidentally killing Tara. I didn't hold that against him. But was it really Tara we was crying over? His emotional displays over me have grown so severe, he wanted to ditch Tara at one point so him and I could be one step closer of traveling the worlds _by ourselves_. So it was possible he was only crying because he made me upset. But I don't think he'd be that upset about that…would he?

"We should have gotten to the nearest world to Utopia, like you mentioned, Kane," Domino said, lying on the crystalized ground with his arms and legs spread apart like he had no other purpose in life. "Then Tara wouldn't have died like she did."

"Okay, Domino, that's where I draw the line," I replied, bending down, grabbing his hand, and forcing him to stand up. "I don't hold anything…against you." I wiped a tear from my eye. "So stop beating yourself up about this, and let's go…see another world!"

Domino's face lit up as he cocked his head towards me. "Thank you, my dear Kane!" He had his Keyblade Glider appear as normal, and he, Kale, and I stood on the Glider with eagerness, ready to head out to the next world. Believe it or not, we now all had the idea that Tara is happy where she is now, with Ty and Ibiki. So we were no longer sad. The Keyblade Glider shot forward through space, the cold wind smacking us in the faces as we sprung forward towards the unknown.

One star seemed brighter than all the rest. We could even tell from a distance that the light in this world was strong. The Glider flew into the star, and once through, we saw ourselves flying our Glider through an orange sky, the setting sun casting yellow, orange, pink, and purple streaks across the sky in a spectrum that was very appealing to the eye.

Water was underneath us. The Glider flew downward to just a few inches off of the surface of the water. I held onto Kale's shirt as he bent down a little to skim his hand on the water. I felt the water myself. I couldn't tell if it was cool or warm. It just felt _right_. Who wouldn't want to spend all day swimming and chilling out in this ocean?

And then Domino screamed over the sound of his Glider, "Land ahoy!" His cocky attitude was a refresher to how I had witnessed him, mere moments ago, bawling his eyes out over the death of Tara. I squinted my eyes and saw what Domino had meant. In the distance was a grassy area. At least, it looked like grass, except it wasn't green. It was more of an orange and blue mixture; an odd combination.

"Whoa," I heard Kale and Domino say in unison. I saw what they were gawking at. Appearing over the horizon was the tip of a clear building. Yes, _clear_. The top was pointy, sharper than any blade. As we neared the land and the massive structure before us, I saw that it was more of a castle. A huge, _clear_ castle.

"What's that!?" Kale asked, a smile forming on his small face. Domino and I didn't bother answering the kid. We just took in the sight of this castle in all of its _clear_ glory.

"Okay, Domino, do _not _crash into that," I muttered under my breath as I stared the castle down, but he seemed to have heard it after all.

"Really, Kane, you think I'd make the same mistake for the hundredth time?" Domino asked. Kale and I laughed at his stupidity as we raced towards the castle. And then we began to ride right over the land. Without warning, Domino dismissed the Glider and Kale and I fell onto the ground, staring up at Domino as he was the only one who landed safely. We were close to eleven feet away from the giant, clear structure before us. "Well, it looks like this castle is made of glass."

Standing in front of the doorway was a girl, not much younger than Kale. She had long black hair that was slicked back; going just barely passed the middle of her back. She wore a robe that was black on the outside and purple on the inside. Her skin was so pale that if you were far enough away, you'd think her face had a greenish tint to it. Her eyes shined yellow. She almost looked frightened at the sight of the newcomers: us.

"Hello, little girl, and what's your name?" Domino asked slowly, taking small steps towards the girl and putting on that same amazing smile he always had when dealing with children. At each sudden movement made by Domino, the girl took another step back until her back was against the glass door. "I'm not here to hurt you—"

The girl made a sudden shriek, opening up the glass door and storming her way inside, closing the door hard, but not hard enough to break it open. Domino and I peered inside. You could clearly see straight through the door and walls. Beyond the door was a long corridor where at the end appeared a throne of sorts. Lining the walls on the inside of the castle were hundreds of different doors, all leading to different places.

And we saw the girl rushing down the corridor, heading straight for the throne at the end of the corridor. Even though she was far away in the castle, I could tell she was talking to someone on the throne. And immediately after the thought crossed my mind, the door slowly opened on its own, and a calm voice said, "Please, enter." The voice came out as more of an echo than anything, and I could tell that whoever was on the throne had said that.

Kale started walking ahead of Domino and I, but the two of us walked into the castle as well. Once we had gotten within five feet away from the door, it closed behind us like magic. Along the glass walls to the left and right of us were many paintings, each painting above a door. In each painting was clearly someone who looked like royalty, each one of a different person.

The voice of the man in the throne echoed off of the walls, saying, "Remove your shoes so the glass is not harmed."

Kale and I complied, slipping out of our shoes and letting our socked feet touch the cold floor. Domino seemed to be fine with the cold glass floor, despite being barefoot.

And then we approached the throne. The girl from before stood to the left of the throne. Sitting in the throne was someone in his twenties or early thirties. He had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail that hung in front of his face. Behind his head, the rest of his long black hair fell down to his waist. His eyes were a stormy gray color. A scar was above his left eye. He himself wore a white robe that seemed to glow in the light of the sunset outside reflecting off of the glass castle.

"Who are you?" I decided to ask, trying not to be rude about it.

"First, tell me a little about yourself," the man replied back. "You three are from Utopia, right?" Kale jumped a that, and I just raised a curious eyebrow at that statement. "I was foretold of the arrival of two special entities from Utopia. You two must be them, then." He looked straight at Domino and I, and Kale pouted when he realized the man wasn't talking about him. "Those golden eyes, so much like your mother's." He stared into my eyes as he said that.

What else did I really have to say, other than "You knew my mom?"

"Of course, Kane Carter," the man replied. "I am Enix Square, a very good friend of your mother's. I heard that she passed away three years ago." I frowned and looked to the ground, but then immediately looked up.

"Your name is _Enix_?" I asked. "That's the name of the person who…was said to have invented the idea for the Keyblade! Is that…true? Is that who you really are?"

"Yes," Enix replied. "Here is where I've stayed at since the Key's invention. There are so many unanswered questions about the Keyblade, and people were always trying to find out the answers that they have no business knowing. So I hid out in another world. This world. It really does not have a name for itself. I was its only inhabitant." He looked down to the girl by his side. "I take care of anyone here who has a special, legendary bloodline. They always somehow find their way to me. The girl before you is Maleficent. I found her two years ago, abandoned by her family because she had certain powers that normal people shouldn't have."

"Hey," the girl said shyly as she looked to the ground. She wasn't much of a talker. She began to bite her nails—rather long nails, the color red painted on there—and hid behind Enix's throne. Enix turned his head to look Maleficent behind his throne, and she stepped out from behind it, looking embarrassed as her pale, greenish face became red.

"Master! Master!" a voice yelled from somewhere behind us, echoing off of the walls. Running from one of the many doors was a boy that looked to be ten or eleven years old. He had small, coal black eyes that were small enough to be pupils, the whites of his eyes larger than they should be, with black hair that fell onto his shoulders. He wore blue robes with a dark red interior. His face looked a tad pale and skinny, and his face and body looked skinny as though he hadn't eaten in months.

"Yen Sid, what is the matter?" Enix asked, standing up as the boy rushed past us, ignoring Domino, Kale, and I as he grabbed onto Enix's robes. The boy named Yen Sid panted in his place, looking utterly terrified. "Speak, boy!"

"There're intruders in the castle," he said quietly. Enix's eyes widened. "A few people dressed in white…I don't know, they couldn't see me." As if noticing us for the first time, he looked straight at Kale and said, "Hey there." Kale nodded, not saying a word. Yen Sid looked back to Enix. "Master, we can't stay here!"

"Yen Sid, calm down," Enix muttered, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Take Maleficent and the young Kamikaze to the panic room." Yen Sid nodded, grabbing the scared girl's hand as well as reaching for Kale's. Kale grabbed onto Yen Sid's hand, and the three ran off to one of the many doors. I didn't even decide to ask him how he even knew Kale's last name. "I understand you are a Keyblade wielder, Domino. And you, Kane Carter, have abilities in magic."

Domino nodded, but I remained a little uncertain. "Abilities in magic?" I asked. As far as I knew, I only had Thunder magic, and had only used those powers once or twice in the previous world we had gone to. Before Enix could reply to me, one of the doors opened, and several people began rushing through the door, all dressed in white suits with white ties and white fedoras.

They circled around us and Enix's throne quickly, about seven or eight of them. Each of them varied in looks, shapes, and heights, but all wore the exact same white outfit. Domino and I stepped back, Enix standing in front of us. A shining light appeared directly in front of Enix. When the light vanished, like a portal, a man stood in its place.

He had twinkling blue eyes that shimmered in the light of his dissipating portal and the white clothing of all the men around us. His hair was spikey in all directions, with long bangs falling over his forehead and in front of his left eye. His hair in the back reached the back of his neck and fell a little over his shoulder. He wore a white suit with a black tie, black shoes, and a black fedora with a white ribbon around it.

"Hello, hello," the man face-to-face with Enix said. He looked to be around my age; maybe younger. "Master Enix Square, the Keyblade Master of the century, my my, the scrolls told of you. You're the one who created that accursed Keyblade."

"Accursed? It's supposed to unlock the gateway to happiness and power!" Enix defended almost immediately. "And who are you?"

"Asher," the boy said, flipping his hair as it flowed dramatically behind him in a wind seeming to be made of light. "Phoenix Asher, Keyblade Hunter."

"A Keyblade Hunter?" Domino asked, genuinely confused. "Okay, _Phoenix_, what exactly does a Keyblade Hunter do?"

"I should think it's obvious," Phoenix replied, his eyes not wavering from their endless stare into Domino's. "Around three years ago we were gathered under one master for one purpose…eliminate the Keyblade entirely if someone were to abuse its mystical power and bring about ruin."

"And you say that there's someone abusing its power?" Domino asked.

"You, Domino, are my target," Phoenix said, backing a tad away from Domino, all of his followers backing up slightly as well. "I was told you tried to bring ruin upon Utopia. That is the reason you're under arrest. Along with Enix here." He gestured his hand to Enix. "He created the accursed thing."

"To unlock the mysteries of the world," Enix replied. "It was my design, so do not harm Domino. It is me you want." In his hand appeared a Keyblade that looked to be made out of pure light. The blade and teeth of the sword were sharper than anything I'd seen. "I fight for the light! And the light does not judge people based on what others do, whether it be dark magic or not! So yield before my might!" Enix leapt into the air at Phoenix, soaring over Domino's head in the process, while swinging his Keyblade of Light at Phoenix.

Phoenix jumped backwards, the Keyblade of Light missing him completely, and he landed softly on the ground. Enix remained three feet away from him. "I will make this a fair duel, Master Enix," Phoenix said softly. "Let's take this outside. I'd hate it if this precious castle shatters because of our fight. I wouldn't be able to handle it if those three other kids that were here were to die."

"How considerate of you," Enix said, walking towards the exit of the castle, faster than I thought he'd be able to walk. Phoenix simply vanished and reappeared in a flash of light outside. At the door I slipped back into my shoes and stepped onto the oddly colored grass outside.

Domino and I watched as Enix Square and Phoenix Asher got within ten feet away from each other, staring each other down. "How will you fight!?" Domino asked at Phoenix. "You don't even have a Keyblade!"

"That's where you're wrong," Phoenix said, outstretching his hand. "I may not have wanted it, but I've gotten my own Keyblade!" In his hand appeared a Keyblade that looked like a cross between a sword and a gun. He pointed it menacingly at Enix. "Long range attacks are my specialty, Master Enix!"

Phoenix swung his Keyblade, and a white bullet made of pure light fired from it, aiming straight for Enix. Enix jumped and flipped in midair, dodging the bullet, and from his hands fired two rays of lights that aimed for Phoenix. Phoenix reflected the light off of his Keyblade, shooting it back to Enix who sidestepped to avoid it.

"So we both fight for the light," Enix muttered. "Then why are you trying to harm Domino and I?"

"Thou shalt not let ruin and destruction take over," Phoenix said quietly, looking to the sky. "Thou shalt not falter in the presence of death. Thou shalt not take pity upon those who abuse power. Thou shalt not allow darkness to reign supreme." He looked back at Enix. "You are aware that Domino has begun creating the dark forces, aren't you!?" Enix jumped at that comment. What had that meant? "Domino has darkness within his veins…he doesn't fight for the light. His false demeanor is only a façade, hiding what he truly desires. Need I go on, Domino?"

Domino jumped at Phoenix, blasting through the air with darkness trailing behind him, his Starlight Keyblade outstretched and darkness sparking around its tip. He thrust his Keyblade into the stomach of Phoenix, only to hit…air. Phoenix had jumped above the swipe. He drove his Keyblade into Domino's stomach. The purple haired boy, my best friend, fell down to the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him.

"Curaga!" came Domino's voice. Green light washed over him, and he rose from the air, staying a few feet above the ground. He pointed Starlight at Phoenix. "Okay, Asher, it's time for you to say good night!"

"Hold that thought," Phoenix said quickly, taking a cellphone from his suit pocket. He flipped it open and said into it, "Asher speaking." He paused for a moment. "Yes, I see." Pause. "I'll be there in a second. Thank you, Master." He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. "I'm sorry to cut our meeting short, but I'm afraid my master needs me to tend to something. I pray our paths may cross again someday, Domino."

"Wait a minute!" Domino screamed. "Just…who is your master?"

"That's a subject for another day, I'm afraid," Phoenix replied. He took his fedora into his hand and threw it like a Frisbee towards Domino, who caught it in confusion. "A memento of our first battle. Take it, the hat's yours. Now I really need to be going. Just remember, the Hunters will be watching you guys."

And in a flash of light, Phoenix vanished. Domino, still confused, put on the black fedora with the white ribbon on it, and positioned it on his head to his liking. "Nice," Domino said, admiring his new headwear. He then looked to me. "So who was that?"

"I don't know," I said, finally saying something after god knows how long. I looked back into the glass castle and saw that the other men who were with Phoenix Asher were vanishing into light one by one. "But there's something going on here. He said something about you gathering the dark forces?"

"The guy was crazy," Domino said, but I wasn't about to believe him for a second. There was something weird going on with Domino, and I had to find out. "The playing field has just gotten rougher than anticipated. Master Enix, do you mind taking care of Kale in our absence?"

"What?" I asked. "We can't just leave him—"

"He'll be fine here," Enix interjected. "A child so young should not be wandering the worlds. We can't make this difficult on the poor boy. You two need to leave before he tries to stop you."

"Okay," I decided to say, not wanting to disagree. We had lost Tara; I didn't want to lose Kale as well. He would be protected under Enix's wing. "Sounds good—gyaah!" I fell onto my knees, clutching my stomach. I felt a surge of energy and pain coursing through my veins. "Domino!?"

I saw the lips of Domino moving as if to speak, but no sound came out. The sounds from the birds chirping and the waves lapping against the grassy shore had all but vanished as well. Through my eyes, it looked as if all color had drained from the world, leaving a mix of black and white. And then all around me, the black and white melted, dripping off into oblivion. I was surrounded by darkness.

I closed my eyes, hoping this experience would be over. When I opened them, I saw a group of at least sixteen people, all standing in a circle. In each of their hands was a Keyblade. The other sixteen Keybearers?

The sixteen vanished into darkness, and in their place stood Domino, looking towards me with his Keyblade outstretched. "Things shouldn't have ended this way. They shouldn't have."

The entire world faded to black once more, and when the color returned, I saw the inside of Domino's house. The roof began to cave in, the ceiling falling on top of Domino's mother. Domino's father stood awestruck, in front of the doorway to outside.

"Marian!" he yelled out. Then he fell to the ground, screaming out. There was a Keyblade shoved into his back. I looked at who had stabbed him, and it was none other than Domino. With an evil smirk, he yanked the Keyblade out and walked off. A few seconds after he had walked off, that's when I had entered the house, looking for Domino. Once again, all faded to black.

Flashes of the people I cared about flashed through my head. Ibiki, Ty, Tara, Kale, and lastly Domino. They each faded away to darkness, and I opened my eyes.

I was on my back on the grass, a worried Domino and Enix looking down at me. Domino saw my eyes open and pulled me to my feet, and I stood up shakily.

Was that a dream? Wait…Domino had killed his father. That must've been the case. Then was it really a dream? It was more like a vision.

"You're hair," Enix noted.

I arched an eyebrow and took out a small, circular mirror from my pocket. A mirror? When had that gotten there…oh, right, it was Tara's. I had forgotten to give it back to her. I looked into the mirror and saw what Enix was worried about. Every strand of hair on my head was now silver. It was no longer the black color it used to be. Was it really that lightning strike from back on Utopia that had done this to me?

"Silver," Domino said as if he had never seen or heard of the color before now. He reached his hand out and stroked the stop of my hair, making things awkward and causing me to back up a few steps. "Unbelievable. Your hair is amazingly silver, it's…unreal."

"You two need to leave," Enix said, turning his back on us. "The silver hair and golden eyes are traits that belonged to your late mother. You're father…he loved that hair." He looked back to me with a tear in his eyes. "You look so much like your mother and like…like…you're father, too." He wiped the tear from his eye. "But you two have to go now." He took a small button off of his robe and handed it to me, which I eagerly grabbed. "This allows us to communicate. If I need something of you, I can speak into a button similar to this one and you'll hear me through that one."

"Okay," Domino said, taking the button from me and putting it on his shirt, it sticking to it magically. He had called upon his Starlight and summoned his Keyblade Glider. I stepped onto it behind him. "Thanks a lot for taking care of Kale, Master Enix."

And before I could even say a goodbye, Domino had the Glider dart forward. He flew over the water and then shot towards the sky, white light soon surrounding the two of us. In seconds we had left the world.

_Where to go now? _I wondered to myself as we flew through the Lanes Between.


	7. The Calm Before the Storm

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. **

**.**

**The Calm Before the Storm**

Blue sky. An endless expanse of the brightest blue surrounded us. Domino and I stood on the Glider, soaring through the sky of this vast, open world. The ground below was covered in grass. Vibrant green grass that sparkled from the dew. This was such a pretty world, but it was desolate. For fifteen straight miles, there was no sign of life anywhere. Domino could've flown us around all day, but I was starting to get a little irritated.

"Can we just stop now?" I asked, but he didn't even reply. "I need to get me something to eat." I then gasped, my eyes widening with horror. "Domino…we've been away from Utopia for almost a full two days and we haven't eaten…" I clutched my stomach and as if on cue, a loud growl was heard from within. "…anything."

"The greatest food comes from nature, Kane," Domino said, slowing the Glider down as we slowly lowered to the ground. "Finding it is the tricky part though."

As the Glider dematerialized from underneath us, our feet landing softly on the ground, Domino jumped into the air and clicked his heels together, falling back to the ground with a smile on his face. "This world has no inhabitants," he said, though I already _knew_ that. "This is the perfect place to train, hang out, and have fun! We haven't had real fun since we left Utopia, so let's change that!"

I smirked at Domino's optimism. His happiness lit up any dark room he stepped in, for sure. Starlight appearing in his hand, he pointed it towards the sky. The sky was bright and beautiful, but a sun was absent in the sky. A ray of light shone down from the heavens and bounced off of the Keyblade, the new ray of light shining towards the ground.

"Kane, my dear friend, step back!" Domino said to me, and I backed up behind him, unsure of what he was going to do. "I sense that there's a lake underneath this ground." How'd he sense _that_? Did the ray of light _speak_ to him or something? "The Keyblade's a lot more useful than just hacking and slashing, you know!"

And with that word, he slammed the blade of the Keyblade into the ground. The ground parted where the blade was, both ends of the ground stretching to several meters away from each other. Soon enough, before us was a huge opening in the ground. Inside was glistening, crystal blue water that seemed to be inviting us in.

"Wow," I mumbled, taking my satchel off and dropping it to the ground. I smelled the air. "It smells…fresh. How'd you know this lake was here?"

"There had to be something here other than grass," Domino said, stretching his arms out. "I use my _powers_ to heighten my sense of smell. And I smelled this amazing freshwater _pond_." I smiled at Domino as he walked to the pond, dipping a foot in it to feel it. "Ah, relaxing. Cool, not too cold though. The perfect temperature."

"So how can a world be so empty?" I asked. "I read that the light in people's hearts is what fuels the heart of a world. If there's no life here, how can a world stay in existence?" I kneeled down next to the pond, sticking a hand in it to feel while waiting for Domino to respond.

"One of the many mysteries of the universe," Domino replied simply. He walked to behind me as I continued to feel the calming water. And then I felt his wet foot pressed against the back of my head. Before I could ask what he was doing, he had pushed me with his foot until I fell into the water, face-first.

I hadn't seen this coming. I looked around to see where I was. My entire body was disoriented. My head was pointing to the bottom of the pond, my feet sticking upward. I positioned myself normally and began to frantically thrash my arms around, swimming quickly to the surface.

My head broke the surface of the pond, and I stared up angrily at Domino who had an evil smirk and a glint in his eye. "Sorry," he said sarcastically, and I noticed his shirt was off and next to my satchel, along with the fedora. "Cannon ball!" he shouted, jumping right over my head and feet first into the water behind me. I shook my head like a dog, trying to get the water out of my hair as I laughed at Domino.

Domino's head bobbed out of the water and he smiled to me. "Isn't the water great?"

"What the hell was that for, jerk!?" I yelled out, punching his bare shoulder as he pretended to wince in pain.

"Remember when we were kids?" Domino asked me, and I shrugged. "When I'd want to go swimming in the Lake of Destiny, you'd always be too chicken to get in. I had to practically drag you in. Well, I solved that problem by pushing you in."

"Gee, thanks," I muttered in annoyance, peeling off my wet shirt and throwing it out of the pond and next to his shirt and my satchel. I did the same with my now soaked shoes and socks.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pushed him and shoved his head underwater. He popped his head out from under the water and returned the favor by dunking my head in the water. We continued this for a good minute or two, until we were both too exhausted to do anything more. We simply floated on our backs, the back of our heads against one another as we relaxed in peace.

"If only Tara, Kale, and Ty could be here with us, experiencing this awesome, cool water," Domino muttered quietly, but enough for me to hear him. At that statement, I quit floating on my back and looked down at Domino. He opened an eye and looked at me. "Yes?"

"Okay, before, you only wanted to be with me," I said, staring coldly into his eyes. "But now, all of a sudden, you want everybody else here with us?" Domino stood up in the water, inching closer to me.

"Because I realized what you wanted," Domino said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Just remember, I don't ever want to lose you. So I'd do anything for you, Kane." Those words never left my mind after that. He wrapped his arms around me and embraced me in a hug, and I stood there awkwardly, wondering what had gotten into him. Letting go of me _finally_, he swam to the edge of the pond as if to get out.

Pulling himself out of the water, he lay down on the grass next to our things in silence. I swam to the edge and pulled myself out as well, soaking wet. Looking up at me from where he lay, Domino slowly stood up, making Starlight appear in his hand.

"Watch this," Domino muttered, raising the Keyblade in the air. "Aerora!" At first, nothing happened. But almost instantaneously, a gray orb of wind circled around the tip, and a strong gust of wind seemed to rush past me suddenly, knocking me on my back. Blinking a few times, I stood up, feeling my hair. It was dry. Come to think of it, my clothing was completely dry. Starlight vanished. "Wind magic. If I want it to, it can be completely harmless. Just a rush of wind. But I can also make it devastating. Like razorblades. To kill an opponent."

"And all I could do was make sparks from my fingertips," I muttered, staring at the palm of my hand. "How was I able to do that though?"

"What?" Domino asked me, walking towards me. "Use Thunder magic? That, I can't tell you. Normally the bond between a Keyblade and its wielder's heart is enough to form a magical bond. But you, that's the true enigma here…you were never passed the Key…you shouldn't have magic powers. You're a complete mortal." He raised a fist into the air. "I could train you, though!"

"Okay…so, how do I use Thunder magic again?" I asked him. "I haven't used any since we were in Salem. Is it all in the wrist, or…?" Unsure of what to do, I flicked my wrist back and forth, expecting lightning to shoot from my palm. "This is utterly ridiculous."

"What's ridiculous is that for once I don't actually _know_ something," Domino muttered, clenching his fist. "Your Thunder abilities appeared once, if only for a minute, but you don't have the blood of a Keybearer. So how…" His eyebrows raised so much they looked like they were ready to jump off of his forehead. "That black strike of lightning? Could that be the cause?"

"That black strike of lightning…" I repeated, remembering when I had been struck before we had left Utopia. "Was it made out of…_darkness_?" Then I had remembered something. Mr. Brunner had used the powers of darkness before. Domino had as well. "How did _you_ use the darkness, Domino? I thought you said that the darkness wasn't supposed to exist."

"Darkness _doesn't _exist, Kane," Domino said, holding his hand out to the sky. "Darkness is just light…or rather, the absence of light. Some Keyblade wielders…or rather, all of them can use the power of Light. Only a few exceptional ones can create darkness. Such as I." What he was saying didn't make much sense. "Some people can control the Light _so_ well, that they can erase the existence of Light. If you erase the Light that you're trying to utilize, only what we call _Darkness_ remains. Watch…"

He held his hand out towards Kane, and an orb of light appeared within it. The light warmed up Kane's insides to the point that he began to smile without realizing it. Domino explained further, "Now watch, as I slowly erase the Light." The ball of light began fading, darkening, until Kane's blood began to chill. The temperature around him _must_ have lowered. The ball of light was now a ball of…darkness. It looked like it was swirling around like a hurricane, ready to spiral out of control. "Darkness is only present in the absence of Light. I slowly took away the essence of light until nothing but the Darkness within remained. Understand now?"

"I guess," I replied.

"Now that was in slow-motion," Domino said, making the ball of Darkness vanish. "Here's how it looks if you're quick with it." With one thrust of his hand, he sent a beam of darkness blasting out of his palm to beyond the blue sky. "Taking away light until its nothing but Darkness in only under a second."

"But Darkness…" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We used to call it Black Magic. Isn't that...evil? Unsafe? Look at how corrupted it made Mr. Brunner, and he was one of my favorite teachers."

It's not evil unless you don't know how to use it properly," Domino replied, chuckling.

"Hey…" I muttered, clutching my stomach. Before I jumped into the lake, my stomach was completely empty. I could've eaten a few hundred pounds of Tara's famous chicken. But now…the feeling was gone. I felt full again. It was almost unnatural. "I'm not hungry anymore?"

Domino, grunting in confusion, bent down and ran a finger along the water. He brought his finger towards his nose and sniffed it, looking intrigued at the scent of the fresh water coating his finger. "Weird…this lake is made of the same components that make up the Lake of Destiny. And if my conclusion's correct…it's even stronger than the Lake of Destiny. Kane, this lake actually heals people. Not only from wounds, but from hunger and thirst, even exhaustion. That explains it."

How the _hell_ did he figure out that so quickly? Domino caught my confused stare and said, "By creating Darkness and utilizing it, one can heighten their sense of smell. I know what the Lake of Destiny smells like, and I know that the Cure spell has a certain…_flowery_ scent to it that nobody can detect. So this lake has a spell cast on it…but from whom?"

And only for a brief second, I saw Domino's nose twitch. Domino's eyes darted to the side as if trying to detect something that I couldn't even sense. "Speaking of…" Domino muttered. "This place was desolate only minutes ago. Someone's already crossed the border?" Almost instantly, I heard a shrieking sound, like chalk on a chalk board or a needle scraping against glass. Looking to the sky, the two of us saw a Keyblade Glider that darted through the sky even faster than Domino had gone.

Before I could see what it looked like, it vanished, and the shadowy form of a human fell from the sky, landing only inches away from Domino and I, almost landing in the lake.

He was tall, barely six feet, lean and muscular, with dark skin, purple eyes, and messy black medium length hair. He wore black leather combat boots and black combat pants, a purple and black belt with a pouch on his right hip, a dark purple sleeveless shirt with a single shoulder pad on his left shoulder, and a fingerless glove on his left hand. He looked to be around nineteen.

"Netherwood," Domino said, smirking at our uninvited guest. "Dante Netherwood…you found me. Congrats."

"Okay, Mister Leader, what do I do now?" Dante asked rather rudely. "I helped break that barrier so I can be free...is there anything more you want me to do? If not, I'm on my own from here on out."

"Exactly," Domino replied, motioning to give Dante a high-five, but Dante didn't even try to give Domino that satisfaction.

Dante smirked. "I normally don't play well with others, but I must thank you for showing us that there was a way out…even if it meant killing everybody else down below." His tone dropped to a menacing one. "You…" He reached forward and grabbed hold of Domino's collar. "You killed all those people! You told me…the sacrifice would be their light! That we would use all of their light to open the barrier! Not shatter it by taking the lives of millions! Heartless bastard!" He yanked on Domino's shirt and threw him to the side, letting go and watching the purple-haired teen fly to the side.

Domino, standing up quickly, made Starlight appear in his hand, and he swung it, only for it to be deflected by another Keyblade wielded by Dante. "Oathbreaker!" Dante screamed out, revealing the name of his weapon. It looked like a normal Keyblade with the color scheme of black and purple. It was around three feet longer than it was supposed to be.

"Hey, I got you out, didn't I?" Domino asked, backing away from Dante. "And what do you care about all those innocents? They've done nothing but put a barrier on Utopia, one that kept us confined for years!"

"That's just it; they're _innocent_!" Dante replied, swinging forth his Keyblade again. Domino barely jumped out of its range, the tip of the blade cut slightly into the skin of his bare chest, a line of blood dribbling down. "I may fight for the Darkness, but I'm not cruel. I care about human life."

"Using the Darkness means sacrifice, dedication, and hard work," Domino replied. "And I helped the two of us, plus the other fourteen, to escape. I even have my best friend here." He pointed to me. I gave him a look as if to say, _Don't get me involved_.

"Prepare to share Elijah's fate," Dante replied. Running forward, he shot a beam of darkness from his Oathbreaker. Domino simply deflected it with his own darkness. The two stood their ground, each trying to overpower the other with their darkness.

All this madness with the Darkness that Domino had himself tangled in…what _was_ he thinking? The dark was cruel, unforgiving, and unremorseful. How could anyone use something like that? And that lie that Domino had told Dante…making him believe that everyone on Utopia would be safe…how could he do that? All of the emotions from before that I had felt back in Salem came rushing back. Domino only cared about himself, and me. He didn't care about anyone else. Should I even keep him as a friend? I truly believed that he cared about me, and loved me as much as a best friend could. But lying and killing others…that wasn't right!

Exploding with rage, my whole body tingled with power, and soon, my hands were sparking with white electricity. Pointing my hands towards Domino and Dante, strikes of lightning escaped my palms. A tiny strike of lightning hit Domino, sending him flying off to the side. A large lightning bolt shot towards Dante, who flew into the lake unconscious.

Domino shakily stood up. Instead of scowling, yelling, or looking the least bit angry or upset, he smiled and started laughing. "You used Thunder again! And this time it was…_white_! Lightning made up of…light." As if just noticing Dante in the water, he looked to him and said, "I guess…is he dead?"

"I don't know," I replied, unsure. Dante Netherwood began to sink into the depths of the lake. "I guess…he is. Oh dear god, I just killed somebody." The feeling started sinking in. I _couldn't_ be a murderer. But Thunder…it wasn't supposed to be a strong as _normal_ lightning! It shouldn't have killed him!

Breaking the silence, we heard something sounding like feedback. Domino seemed to know what it was. Rushing to his shirt next to my satchel, he undid the button from his shirt. _Enix's button! _Was he contacting us already? Domino began speaking into it: "Master Enix, you there?"

"Yes, it is I," the voice of Enix said in a static voice. "So, how is your journey the past three days? Kale is just dying to hear the details, hehe."

I gasped. "Three days?" Time must flow differently in every world. That would explain it. "How did he take the news that we were gone?" I decided to ask.

"Oh, he cried for a few hours," Enix said, and I dropped my head in guilt. Leaving him behind was the best thing we could do for him, but I felt sorry that he had to stay by himself with people he didn't even know. "At least he's safe… He's made great friends with Maleficent and Yen Sid! The three are chasing each other around outside. Makes me wish I was younger…anyway, listen, I had to tell you something. No matter whom you meet…whom you see…trust no one unless you know everything about them."

"Where's this question coming from all of a sudden?" I asked. "Did something happen? And why did you say '_At least he's safe_'? Safe from what?"

"Just trust me, Kane, Domino," Enix's voice said, his voice starting to become scratchier and scratchier with every passing second. "No matter who you meet on your journey, whether you know him or not, do not trust them until you know for sure that they're good people. Trust no one. Because even the kindest people have the darkest motives. Isn't that right…Ibiki?"

The name sent shivers up my spine. Why did he just say Ibiki? Domino looked as confused as me. Domino was about to say something more, but soon a loud gunshot filled the air around us. The noise came from the communication device. After the gunshot noise vanished, it was immediately followed by another, followed by a noise that sounded like…the shattering of glass.

It sounded as if it was actually near us, but it was just coming out of the button. "Enix!?" I yelled out, shocked at what was happening. There was a gunshot…two of them. And the glass…most likely the castle…was shattering all around Enix. "Are you there!?"

When the sound died down a new, cold and familiar voice began speaking through the button. "Hello, boys. Good to know that the two of you are alive and well."

I was speechless. Domino, however, took no time processing this and yelled out, "Ibiki Kamikaze!?"

"Ding ding ding, give the Domino his prize," the person on the other end, Ibiki, said, a slight chuckle after his words. "Don't worry much. Kale, Maleficent, and Yen Sid are all okay. I know you've been having all your fun, but I need you. Come to the world where Enix once resided in. We can talk there."

"Wait a minute!" I wailed out, not wanting to stop talking to Ibiki without getting answers first. "What was all that noise!?"

"Get here now before I hunt you down, you two," Ibiki said, and he didn't speak again.

Domino, frowning, raised Starlight into the air and summoned his Keyblade Glider. The two of us jumped on, after the we got dressed and I strapped my satchel on, of course, and began heading towards the sky. "What's Ibiki doing alive?" Domino asked as if he wanted him to stay dead. What was going on here? Domino was turning out to be someone completely different. Ibiki was back. And whatever happened to Enix…well, I feared the worst. I looked down at the water, and my jaw dropped.

A hand raised itself from the watery depths, clutching the grass on the ground, attempting to pull itself up from out of the lake. "Domino!" I shouted out.

Domino looked to the lake where a second hand rose from the depths, the Oathbreaker in its hand. A blast of darkness shot from it, heading towards the sky where we were. Domino swerved hard to the left, quickly avoiding the darkness as it headed off into space. "He didn't die after all," Domino muttered, just as we crossed the border.

**.**

**I'm sorry for the long wait! I had a slight writer's block, but I'm back (I'm hoping!) This is the first chapter to feature an OC from someone other than myself! Anyway, Ibiki is ALIVE!? What shall befall our heroes? How will Kane deal with Domino's hidden, rutheless personality?**

**OCs:********_Dante Netherwood _****belongs to**Demonfox25.


	8. Monster

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. All OCs in this chapter belong to me.**

**.**

**Monster**

**_ "_****_No matter who you meet on your journey, whether you know them or not, do not trust them until you know for sure that they're good people. Trust no one. Because even the kindest people have the darkest motives. Isn't that right…Ibiki?"_**

I kept replaying Enix's words over and over in my head. From the way he said it...could we not trust Ibiki? I kept thinking about this as we crossed the border to Enix's world. The light, the warmth…it was gone. As soon as we could see the world beyond the border, a cold wind sent chills up my spine. The once orange sky was a sickly purple, dark gray clouds casting over the entire world below. No sun could be seen.

The temperature had to be below thirty degrees. I looked to the water below and saw that it was solid ice. The ice seemed to reflect the purple coloration of the sky, making the ice seem gray or even black. Domino broke the silence. "What…happened?"

The place looked like an entirely different world. I could see my breath escaping my lips, and I wished that I had worn longer and thicker clothing. The Glider beneath my feet began to shake. Domino noticed this as well and stomped hard on it as if trying to tell it to knock it off. The Glider seemed to slowing down. "Domino?" I tried asking, but the roar of the wind that had appeared oh so suddenly overshadowed my voice. I looked to the Glider and saw that it was beginning to…freeze?

Almost instantly, the Keyblade Glider vanished in a flash of light. Domino and I tumbled downward towards the ice and before we could even scream for our lives, we hit the ice. Domino somehow landed on his feet. The cold didn't seem to bother his bare feet. I, however, landed on my face. The ice was so solid that it hadn't cracked when we landed.

Standing up and rubbing my nose, I noticed that Domino looked straight ahead with a blank expression. Looking in the direction he was, I saw that the large, towering Castle of Glass where Enix once resided…was gone. Domino nimbly ran across the ice, not even slipping, and found himself on the other side of the lake. I ran after him, and though I had shoes on that should have gave me traction, I still slipped and fell on my butt quite a few times. I finally made it to the end of the lake.

The grass was now gray, dying, and depressing. Littering the grass were millions and millions of tiny and large shards of glass, once belonging to the beautiful Castle. Standing among the wreckage was someone I had thought we'd never see again. Ibiki Kamikaze. His sideburns seemed thicker and more jagged looking, his long black hair was a scraggly mess of tangles and knots and looked somewhat gray-ish. Even his cute and cuddly pink eyes seemed harder, more focused, and without life.

"Ibiki, what happened over here?" I asked, trying to take a step forward. Domino held his hand out, preventing me from going ahead of him. "Domino?"

"Ibiki did this," Domino said simply, staring into Ibiki's cold, dead eyes. "I can sense it—another perk of the darkness—that he's the one who caused this mayhem. Tell me…why?"

"Is this true?" I asked, trying to step forward but once again was blocked off by Domino.

"Enix had to be destroyed," Ibiki said in a calm voice. I gasped. Did he say…_destroyed_? So Enix was dead? "As creator of the Keyblades, he caused this entire chain of events to transpire. You, Domino, obtained your Keyblade three years ago, you came to Utopia to seal us off from the outside world, and then you helped to destroy our barrier. And then you proceeded to take Kane, Tara, _and_ Kale along for the ride."

"So…Utopia wasn't destroyed?" I asked.

"Far from it," Ibiki replied, smirking slightly. "It simply…created a new way of living there. Hundreds did die, but the few hundred people that were left helped to rebuild it to its proper glory. The storm you conjured flooded the world, so now we're living atop water. You really have to see it, the way the Lake of Destiny covers the entire world."

"So does this mean…" I muttered, not sure of what to say. "Ty is alive?"

"He is."

"So Tara died for nothing, then." As I said that, Domino jumped directly in between Ibiki and I, holding out his Starlight that was still slightly covered in ice. At the same moment, Ibiki had jumped forward and swung a sword—which he made appear out of pure light—clashing it with Domino's Keyblade. "What the—"

"Kane, you're my best friend and all, but that was an incredibly stupid move," Domino snapped at me. I thought about what I had just said. I basically admitted to Ibiki that Tara had died. I talked about her death freely as if it were _nothing_. And Ibiki…where'd he get this sword from? It was a mix of white and silver, and it glittered in the light that swirled around it.

"So Tara died then," Ibiki mumbled, lowering his head to pay his respects. "And it is…all…your…fault!" He swung it once more at Domino, but Domino collided his weapon with Ibiki's. Ibiki backed away. He looked to me. "Domino might as well have killed Tara himself, he left Kale all by himself over here…and you're _still_ by his side?" He seemed to just be noticing my hair color. "Your mother's hair…how?" He made his sword disappear, and in his hand appeared a gun.

Looking at the gun…my eyes fogged, and I felt myself drifting off. Like before when I saw Domino kill his parents, I was having another vision now.

Enix sat at his throne. A shadowy figure suddenly appeared behind the throne, but Enix looked as if he didn't know it was there. "Just trust me, Kane, Domino," Enix said quietly into his own button. "No matter who you meet on your journey, whether you know them or not, do not trust them until you know for sure that they're good people." His eyes narrowed to the side, as if he just realized the shadowy figure was there. "Trust no one. Because even the kindest people have the darkest motives." The shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows behind Enix's throne and revealed his face. "Isn't that right…Ibiki?" It _was_ Ibiki. And in his hand was a gun.

Ibiki walked in front of Enix. With one swipe of his gun, a bullet fired from it, gruesomely piercing Enix's chest and filling the air with a loud gunshot. Enix fell from his throne, dark red blood staining the glass floor. With another swing of his gun, Ibiki pulled the trigger a second time, firing it straight at the high ceiling. As soon as the bullet hit the glass ceiling, the entire castle shattered.

My eyes opened as I was violently shaken awake from the vision. By the looks of it, no time had passed since I began having the vision. Ibiki _murdered_ Enix. The gun was pointed to Domino.

"Take a look at this tiny place," Ibiki said, laughing after he spoke. "An empty world…almost like a prison. Enix thought he could hide himself, but we found him." _We? _"The castle is this world's life force. Since the castle is destroyed, along with its cowardly master, this world has no more power. It'll be dead in minutes."

"Wait…" I said, darting my eyes back and forth. "Where's Kale? Or Yen Sid…and Maleficent?"

"They're safe, on the other side of the wreckage," Ibiki said, but that didn't prevent me from worrying about the three of them.

"And what do you mean the world will be…_dead_?"

"Taken by the darkness of the universe," Ibiki answered. "The castle was this world's light. It held so many memories, spirits, hearts…and now they're all gone along with the castle and poor Master Enix."

"Wait a minute, Ibiki," Domino spoke after the longest time that he has _ever_ been silent. "Did you say _we_ before? Who's _we_?"

Ibiki smiled, looking towards the sky. I looked to the sky as well. I couldn't see or understand what in the world he was looking at. "Asher, now!" Ibiki shouted suddenly.

"Asher!?" Domino and I yelled simultaneously.

I looked back to the sky, where a white comet shot from beyond the clouds. As the comet neared the ground, I saw Asher's face, his white hair flowing about in the wind. As he got ever closer, I saw that there were two disks in his hands. He threw them at me like Frisbees, and they circled around me, sending a force field of light around my body. The orb of light around me began to shrink in size, until I was unable to move around in it. I fell to the ground defeated.

Phoenix Asher elegantly landed beside my head. Domino rushed to him with Starlight outstretched, but both Asher and Ibiki deflected it with their own weapons, Asher with his Keyblade, and Ibiki with both his sword and his gun. "No way…" Domino muttered, trying to keep his ground against his two attackers. I looked to him from the ground and saw the horrified look in his eyes as he wouldn't keep his eyes off of me. "No way in hell…"

"To answer your question," Ibiki muttered, smiling from ear to ear. "_We_, as in the _Keyblade Hunters_!" Appearing around Domino, Asher, Ibiki, and I were around twenty people in white suits. The same people from the same group that was here a while ago.

"I was afraid of that," Domino muttered, dropping his head. Eyeing the ground in anger, Domino muttered, "So, Asher, I'm guessing Ibiki is your _master_?"

"He founded us only three years ago," Asher said with a smile. "A group of hunters whose one goal is to destroy the Keyblade and restore peace. There's a prophecy…that the Keyblade will bring about destruction and ruin, tearing down everything in its wake. A storm of darkness shall ravage and a river of light shall flow, heading towards one another, colliding, ultimately bringing about the end of all existence."

I tried to speak, but it felt like my throat was closing up. The orb of light had fit to the shape of my body, encasing me in a coating of light that began to burn me. It was unlike anything I've ever felt before. As I opened my mouth to speak, only strained gibberish escaped my lips.

But why…_why _would Ibiki turn on us like that? Was the Keyblade that evil? But what he said…about the darkness and light colliding and ending the world. Was he talking about the darkness that Domino was possessing?

"How do you have all of this light?" Domino asked. "It…isn't even light. It doesn't _smell_ like light. It's too bright, too harsh…too strong. It's…"

"Artificial," Ibiki replied. "A group of Utopian scientists created an artificial light to use. We figure, since the prophecy says light and dark will clash and end all existence, then that means if we have _fake_ light, there's no chance of it being the cause of the end of worlds. So. I am sorry, but the two of you will die today. Without you two, the prophecy can be avoided. Now…"

I then began coughing. I couldn't breathe. The light was choking me, strangling me. I squirmed on the ground, my entire body paralyzed. My eyes began tearing up. The pain was agonizing. I saw Domino's sad eyes focus. They looked angrier than before.

"Then I'm sorry," Domino said, barely above a whisper. "But I can't allow you to kill Kane." His eyes seemed to glow with dark energy. _"__Don't you dare think that you can fucking lay a hand on him!"_

My eyes widened as I saw Domino's rage nearly explode out of him. Darkness blasted out of Domino's body, knocking the twenty suited figures back. Some fell onto the glass and others fell onto the ice. Ibiki and Asher remained standing still, but barely. The darkness escaping Domino's body was cutting, scraping against their bodies.

And then Domino blasted forward, his hand closing on Asher's throat. He slammed the white haired boy to the ground, leaving an Asher sized dent in the ground. Ibiki approached Domino from behind, swinging his sword at him. Domino predicted this and whipped around, grabbing the sword and throwing it to the side, sending Ibiki flying with it.

When I took a look at Domino, his silver eyes nearly glowed red. His purple hair was flowing wildly behind him in a flurry of darkness as his fedora flew onto the ice of the lake. Ibiki attempted to stand up, but a ball of darkness flew from Domino's hand and slammed into Ibiki's chest, sending him flying another few yards back.

I hadn't seen this kind of rage in Domino…since I was wounded by Mr. Brunner back on Utopia. He looked like a freaking _monster_! He almost seemed to release this kind of rage…when anything was happening to me. Was I that important to him?

Domino suddenly jumped into the air, floating a few inches off of the ground. He flew at a fast pace towards one of the white suited figures, a woman, and wrapped his arms around her head, snapping her neck in under a second. I gasped when I could hear the snapping of her neck. What was he doing!?

He flew to each and every one of the nineteen remaining suited Hunters, snapping and ripping off each of their heads. Darkness trailed behind him as he flew around in a frenzy. Both Asher and Ibiki stood up.

"And this is why you must die, Domino!" Ibiki yelled out. "I've always felt like this, boy! It seems like you have corrupted Kane as well. The two of you do not deserve this or any world. I love you, Kane, as much as any father can…but keeping you alive can bring then end to all worlds. We can't allow you to help Domino achieve his goals of war!"

"War?" I tried to ask, but it sounded more like _Gwrwrrraaar_?

Domino raised his hands into the air, and with an ear-splitting screech, the ground below him split in half, revealing a pit of darkness underneath his feet. The ground slowly crumbled away, a path of destruction leading its way to Ibiki and Asher.

The heat of the light around me began to dim. The cold, harsh darkness cooled me down. I felt it from Domino. How was that possible. I was able…to move again. The light around my body dissipated, Domino's darkness being the main cause. I stood myself up.

"Let them perish with this world!" Asher yelled out. "We can't risk our own skins for their wrong-doings! Get the kids and we can leave!"

"They must be sacrificed," Ibiki said, his eyes turning on me as if to say _It must be done_. "Once we achieve equilibrium among the worlds once again, we may raise their spirits and bring them back. As said in the prophecy."

In a flash of light, Ibiki vanished. "He's right," Asher said, looking to the sky. He looked back to Domino and I. Domino's rage didn't seem to be ending. He stared coldly at Asher, waiting for a chance to kill the guy. "You two must fade away from existence along with this pitiful world. Eventually, all Keybearers shall share your fate."

Asher vanished into light. The darkness swirling around Domino dissipated into thin air. His eyes calmed, looking to me in sadness. "Kane…" I tried to speak, but my throat still felt a little sore. "We can survive."

Almost as soon as he said that, the ice shattered, each shard of ice flying down into the unknown. I looked down below and saw there was something like a black hole down there, sucking in the land and ice. Starlight became the Keyblade Glider, and Domino pulled me aboard, the two of us beginning to soar towards the sky.

But the power of the Glider wasn't enough. We began to ascend, flying towards the darkness. Looking down, I saw that the entire world below was encased in darkness. I saw…Kale. He was flailing around, flying towards the black hole. On either side of him were the tumbling figures of Yen Sid and Maleficent, each looking as terrified as I felt.

"I've got them!" Domino yelled out, holding a hand out. A black portal opened up beneath Yen Sid, the young boy falling into it and disappearing. He did the same for Maleficent, and the girl vanished as well. "They should be heading towards safer worlds. I'm not sure where!" Reaching down, he grabbed Kale by the foot and pulled him up. I hugged Kale close to me, trying to keep both me and him on the Glider as we tumbled down.

"What now!?" I yelled out, startling myself by the sound of my own voice. The roaring of the darkness around us was unbearable. No light remained in this world. But I saw that Domino had created a portal of darkness again…but on the inside, I could barely see light. _Another world_? I lost consciousness.

**.**

**So, how did you like this chapter? It seems like Domino always exploded with anger once Kane is getting hurt. SO, let's see. Enix is dead. Asher and Ibiki left the scene thinking that everyone below was going to die. Yen Sid and Maleficent are each heading for different worlds, while Domino, Kane, and Kale headed for the same world. What adventures await? Stay tuned!**


	9. Calling to the Night (I)

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Calling to the Night (I)**

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying comfortably on a bed consisting of a cloud-like mattress and thick bed sheets and blankets. The pillow beneath my head felt so comfortable that I almost drifted back to sleep. Well, until I heard snoring. Darting my eyes to the right, I saw a bunk bed. That snoring was so familiar…_obnoxiously familiar_.

Sleeping soundly on the top bunk was Domino, his fedora set to the side of him. Below him was Kale, sleeping soundly and as adorable as any seven year old could be. Domino snored again. Normally I would lash out and start yelling at Domino to quiet it down, but I nearly chuckled. When was the last time I had heard that snoring of his?

I darted my eyes around the room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were white. The door at the edge of the room opened, and stepping into the room was a girl who looked to be around my age. Her black hair fell over her shoulders and nearly sparkled in the light of the shining sun that released its rays through the curtains of the window. Her large, emerald eyes looked so innocent. I could tell that she was a good person? Was it because I could sense her light? Did Domino's abilities rubbed off on me? I shrugged away the thought.

"Ah, you're awake," the girl said in a hushed tone. "We found you three out in the courtyard." She approached my bedside, staring into my eyes. Sitting down on the bed beside me, she suddenly took my hand in hers. "You're warm… good. You three were nearly as frozen as ice back there."

"Where are we?" I decided to ask.

"Daybreak Town," the girl replied quickly, as if expecting me to ask that question. "My name…is Rika Khiohé. I begged Father to take you in. You're in an orphanage right now. The other four are downstairs."

"Rika," I said, raising my voice a little bit. My throat felt a little better, but I tried not to overdo it when I spoke. "Thanks."

Rika smiled, sitting up and walking towards the window where she pulled open the curtains, releasing a shower of light into the room. Domino instantly grabbed his fedora and put it over his eyes, shielding himself from the immense light. Kale sat up in his bed and yawned, scratching the back of his bedhead.

"Rise and shine," Rika said, bouncing off and out of the room.

"Where are we, Kane?" Kale asked, yawning again, forcing myself to yawn as well. I told him the name of the town we were in, and both me and Kale jumped out of bed. I was surprised to notice that we were in new pairs of clothing. Someone had put pajamas on us while we were out. I had noticed a stack of clothes by the closet to the left of the room, the same ones that Domino, Kale and I had been wearing since the start of our journey.

"Domino, get up!" Kale yelled, climbing the ladder to the top bunk and jumping onto Domino's chest. Domino removed the fedora from his face and slowly opened one eye. "Get up, sleepy head! We're somewhere!"

"Where?" Domino said while yawning, slowly slipping out of bed, falling to the ground with Kale on his back. "Ouch." Standing up, I realized that he was only in his boxers. Kale nearly fell to the ground in laughter. Domino noticed his attire himself. "Where are my clothes?" Laughing myself, I pointed to the closet where the stacks of clothes were.

Rushing to his stack, he slowly put on his shirt and shorts. Kale and I got dressed as well. The three of us headed out of the door, finding ourselves in a hallway. At the end of the hallway was a staircase, which Domino eagerly ran down.

This place reminded me so much of the Kamikaze Home. But nearly everyone who lived there had gone their separate ways: Ibiki was a part of some group that was desperately trying to _kill_ Domino and I; Ty was living in the care of someone else; Tara had passed away back in Salem; and here Kale and I were on some magical journey with Domino. Some life.

At the bottom of the stairwell, we now stood in a kitchen. Sitting at the table were five girls. Among them was Rika. The others each varied in looks. One had bright red hair and green eyes; one had aqua colored hair and purple eyes; one had blonde hair and crystal blue eyes; the last had brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hello, you three," Rika said with a smile. "I'd like you to meet the gang." She pointed to the redhead. "Kristi." She pointed to the one with the aqua hair. "Crystal." She looked at the blonde one. "Bela." And finally he looked to the brunette. "And Xena."

Never have I ever been surrounded by so many girls before. They all looked to be Rika's age. Xena reminded me so much of Tara; I almost questioned whether or not the two were related. The only difference was the eye color, and the hair. Instead of Tara's piercing blue, they were caramel colored. Her hair was worn long, going to just above her waist, as opposed to Tara's hair which was always in ponytails and worn high. But her face was almost the same, dark tan that he loved about Tara.

"I think she will notice your stare, Kane," Domino said in my ear, and I nearly jumped. How long was I staring at her? "It's alright; I guess she's kind of cute." The five girls started giggling, and I felt my cheeks redden from the intense embarrassment Domino was giving me. "So, ladies…this is…Daybreak Town?"

"Yes," Xena replied with a bright smile. "This place is by far one of the greater worlds out there. You can't find a better world out there for Keybearers…well, except for the world they've originated from." Domino nodded.

"So where is this Father of yours?" I asked, and all of the girls' eyes were on me. I felt my face reddened again.

As if on cue, the door on the other side of the kitchen opened, and stepping through a man wearing blue robes. He had a long black beard that was darker than Rika's hair. On his head was a point blue hat. He wore spherical glasses over his small black eyes. "Oh, so our guests are finally awake? That's good."

"Father Merlin!" Kristi and Crystal cried out in happiness.

Rika stood up from her chair and walked over to the man, towering a foot above him. Kane noticed his short height. "Kane, Kale, Domino—" Kane decided not to ask about how she knew their names. "—this is Merlin, the person who found us when we were lost and brought us here. He's like a father to us, you know. The things this man does to keep Daybreak safe."

It was slight, but I saw Domino's nose twitch. "Your scent…it screams _magic_! You're a wizard? I wasn't aware that they had wizards still alive." I raised an eyebrow in surprise. How could Domino's sense of smell be _that_ strong!? Just because of the darkness he possesses?

"The last wizard, actually," Merlin said, scratching his nose. "Well, the last known one, anyway. So…two Utopians, I see."

"Two?" Domino asked. "Uh…you're forgetting one?"

"You should know that you're not a _true_ Utopian, Domino," Merlin replied, and Domino nodded like he suddenly understood. "You come from the world that gave birth to the Keyblades, where the Master Enix, all Keybearers, and all Wizards once lived. Kane Carter and Kale Kamikaze were truly born in Utopia."

"Quit worrying about where they came from, Father," Rika said, putting a hand on the short man's shoulder. Taking her hand off of his shoulder, she said aloud, "Does any one of you three want to go check out the town?"

"I do!" Domino said in his eccentric voice. It was hard to believe that just a little while ago he was a rampaging killing machine. Rika smiled, leading Domino to the doorway. The two walked out. Rika looked to me, expecting me to tag along, but my eye contact told Rika to go with Domino alone.

Kale pouted, wanting to go as well. I smirked at his pouting face, until he broke out in a smile and yelled, "Will someone play with me!?"

Kristi, Crystal, and Bela all squealed with high pitched voices, "ADORABLE!" and each grabbed onto a separate limb of Kale's, lifting the boy into the air by his arms and legs. Kale laughed, making me smile at how happy he could be away from home. The three carried the boy upstairs.

"Well, looks like the little tyke is having a lot of fun over here," Merlin said. "I must go check on the town, make sure nobody's causing trouble. He snapped his fingers, and then frowned. "You'd think after three years, my magic wouldn't be as rusty as it was before. Oh well." He hobbled out of the house, shutting the door behind him.

"So, you wanna go check out the sights?" Xena asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I jumped higher than I should have. I caused the girl to laugh. I pouted at her. "Come on, I know you're dying to see what this world looks like. Plus, we can't leave Rika and Domino alone together. You know how many boyfriends she's had in the past month? I think I've lost count. She has bad taste in men. Now, if only she picked someone like you, then her taste wouldn't be that bad…"

I jumped at that comment. "Did you just—?"

"No, no I didn't," she quickly replied. "So, let's leave!" I led her to the door, opening it for her and allowing her to step through first. I walked out after her, closing the door behind me. The streets glittered in the light of the bright sun. Shiny buildings towered all around us, the sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun was bright…but not too bright. This was the first time I was able to look directly at the sun without my eyes being irritated.

She grabbed my hand—her hand was warm and soft—and she pulled me along, the two of us running down the streets. It was then I noticed…not only were there people on the ground, walking normally, but there were also people in the sky. Each one of them was piloting something that looked like a…Keyblade Glider! There really were more Keybearers! The sky was filled with them. At least thirty I've seen in the past minute or so.

"Surprised?" Xena asked as we gradually slowed down our run. "Domino's not the _only_ Keyblade wielder here, you know. I'm sorry; I had forgotten that Utopia was closed off." When she said that, memories flashed through my mind. A black strike of lightning slamming into me. Ibiki and Ty, flying towards the water of the Lake of Destiny. Domino murdering his parents. Mr. Brunner going on a dark rampage. All remaining Keybearers breaking the barrier and releasing us to the outside world. I let go of her hand. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, sorry," I said quickly, and Xena slipped her hand into mine once again. She was getting close to me, very quickly. Not even Tara showed me this much affection. We continued to walk until we saw Domino and Rika only a few feet ahead. "Hey, Domino!"

Domino turned towards me. "Kane! Is this place great or what!?" I had noticed that Rika was clutching Domino's hand, just as Xena was doing with mine. Rika saw me looking at her and Domino's hands, and she quickly let go. "So many Keybearers! With this many, we could have opened up the barrier of Utopia without the major sacrifice!"

"Sacrifice?" Rika asked instantly. _Domino, you idiot!_

"I, uh…" Domino said, for once unsure of what to say.

"You had to sacrifice people to get passed the barrier?" Rika asked worriedly. Domino then did something unexpected. Taking both of Rika's hands in his, he leaned forward and locked lips with her. Xena and I both gasped as our jaws dropped. Domino released himself from the sudden kiss. "Domino? I…didn't know that you felt that way…"

"Geez, you've only known each other for a short time!" I yelled out, being the only _logical_ person here. Two people do not fall in love after barely over an hour of knowing one another. The concept of love at first sight bothered me. But then there was also Xena, who was beautiful in every way. But was I truly _in love_ with her? Xena didn't seem to shy…she was very open and still remained holding my hand.

Domino let go of Rika's hands. "Uh, yeah, sorry, about that." He looked to me with pleading eyes as if asking for help. I silently chuckled. Xena, Rika, Domino, and I continued walking until we found ourselves in a circular courtyard with a fountain in the middle, spraying crystal blue water that created a rainbow above it.

"This place is beautiful," Domino said, looking from me to Rika several times. A calming wind swept past my hair. "I am so glad we've escaped Utopia, Kane." He walked away from Rika and approached me. I wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but it became clearer when he wrapped his arms around me. He nearly choked the air out of my lungs. I heard Xena and Rika laughing. Domino released me. He nearly had tears coming from his eyes. "Kane…I'm so glad."

"Same here," I said rather awkwardly. Immediately, a puff of blue smoke appeared in between Domino and I, and when the smoke cleared, Merlin stood there stroking his beard. "Merlin?"

"My magic isn't as rusty _now_, is it?" Merlin said in a '_Ha, I told you so!'_ tone of voice. "I realize that the two of you, Kane and Domino, must be very confused as to what that boy, Phoenix Asher, said to you back in Enix's realm." _How did he know about that_? "This book explains the Prophecy of Destiny." From his robes he took out a book bound in dark red leather. He handed it to me, obviously knowing how fast I could read. "We wizards have a knack for knowing such things, such as this book. Give it a gander, if you'd like."

I opened the front cover. The page behind it was a white, silky cover page, with golden letters etched into the silk. They seemed to be a jumble of letters that would have confused most people. I darted my eyes around the page, staring at each individual out of place letter. And in my mind, I rearranged the letters to make up a few sentences.

"What does it say?" Domino asked. "I can't decipher it."

**_"_****_Key-shaped weapons shall be created, bringing upon the worlds destruction and ruin, tearing apart everything in its wake. A storm of utter darkness shall ravage the worlds while a flood of light shall flow to counteract that darkness, causing a collision so powerful that it shall bring about the ending of the existence of any and all worlds. The Protector of Light who holds no Key shall face against the Dark Lord in a battle of Light versus Darkness during the End of Worlds."_**

As I read it, I slowly became more and more confused. "By the feel of this book, it's several decades old, older than any Keyblade and even Enix himself," I said, holding the book above my head. "It is as Asher said…a prophecy that states that the worlds will be destroyed in a conflict between the Light and Dark. It says two people will fight _during_ the End…a Protector of Light who holds _no_ Key, and a Dark Lord. When will this come to pass? The Keyblade's been around for three years now."

"Sounds a bit frightening, if you think about it," Xena mumbled. "The world ending… and as it is ending two people are fighting? Who would fight during an _apocalypse?_ Why not work together to stop it?"

"Who knows why anyone does anything anymore," Merlin said, crossing his arms. "Kane, you may keep that book. It is of no further use to me. I must take my leave again." Snapping his fingers, nothing happened. "Darn it." He snapped them again, but blue smoke only puffed out from below his hat, making the man cough. "Blast it all!" He stomped his foot, and he vanished into blue smoke.

Rika laughed at the man who had just left. She looked to Domino and said, "Hey, do you maybe wanna go eat somewhere?"

"How about you go get food and bring it back here," Domino said, his nose twitching as he looked to the fountain. "I must stay here to rest a bit. And to admire this fountain."

"With pleasure," Rika bounded off merrily, until she was out of sight beyond the courtyard.

I looked to Xena and said, "I'll catch up with you at Merlin's place. You should really get home. I have to stay here for bit, to talk to Domino." Xena nodded with understanding and walked back the way we had come. Once she was out of earshot, I said, "Domino, what do you sense?"

"How do you know—"

"Your nose twitched," I told him. I was now able to sense if something was happening just by looking at Domino's nose. That seemed a lot easier than commanding some darkness to heighten my senses. "Is there something happening? What's wrong?"

"Night's coming," Domino muttered. _Night_? It was barely past lunch time! Domino caught my confused stare and said, "A storm…in a few hours. It'll make the day look like night. But was it my darkness that brought it forth, or—?" Before he could say more, a person dropped from the sky in between Domino and I.

And it was none other than Dante Netherwood. His clothing didn't look as wet as he was before, when I had thrown him into that lake with my Thunder. Dante chuckled. "What influence are you having on this town, Domino?" I arched an eyebrow, confused as to what the man had meant. "This world is filled with light, yes. But behind all this light is the tiniest percentage of darkness lingering…it can't possibly all belong to you."

"Kane, let the two of us talk," Domino said. As soon as I attempted to protest, he said, "I'll be alright, darling Kane. Dante and I need to discuss matters."

I groaned and began to walk away, not bothering to argue with him. Before Dante had tried to kill Domino, but now the two wanted to talk? As I walked away, I stayed just within earshot, lingering so I could hear their conversation. My sense of hearing seemed to be extremely strong for some reason.

"As I landed on this world, some of my darkness was released," Domino said. "It found its way to a few Keybearers, and they've made it their own darkness. I do believe that the darkness is stronger…more superior to that _light_, but we mustn't let it overpower their judgment, as it did with Elijah."

"Some people would disagree with your motives," Dante said in a quieted voice. "Some would think that the light is superior, and would do whatever it took to purge the darkness. Whereas some would think that darkness should only remain, taking a role similar to that of Elijah Brunner and killing to fill his dark needs. Then there are those who choose a _neutral _side, and want the Keyblade to vanish forever. The more people here we get informed about the darkness, the better. The light is corrupting the minds of each and every society within the universe. We cannot allow the light to corrupt the next generations."

"That's why I sent Kale, Kane, and I here before we could perish in Enix's realm," Domino said. "This world contains citizens that could be persuaded by anything, really. And here we could get a perfect dark following. The darkness, supposedly _nonexistent _or_extinct_…is the supreme power and behind-the-scenes driving force of each world. It has more persuasion and power than the light. Spread the word to the Keybearers here. Have them all meet in this courtyard during the storm. We'll discuss things then."

What _was_ this? The way Domino spoke, it almost seemed like he _wanted_ the Light to perish. But if Light perished, the Dark would cease to…no, actually, if there was no light, all that would remain was darkness. What were Domino and Dante's plans, exactly?

"But they might not follow us too easily," Dante said. "They may need a prize to be won, something to drive them towards fulfilling our goals."

"A prize," Domino pondered. "Have you ever heard of the legend of Kingdom Hearts?" Dante smirked and vanished in a flurry of darkness. I had never heard about this _Kingdom Hearts_. Was it another world? It must have been special if Domino was going to use that as a prize for the Keybearers here.

Not wanting to be noticed by Domino, I dashed back to Merlin's place, and once I was there, I was immediately greeted by Kale in the front doorway. "Hey, Kane!" the boy shouted at my arrival. This boy sure was tough…dealing with the death of Tara and the loss of his new friends, Yen Sid and Maleficent, as well as losing Ibiki as a father figure…it was all too much. But Kane never once, as far as he could remember, had seen the young boy ever shed a tear.

"Hey, Kale, where're the girls?" I asked, bending over so I can be face-to-face with the little boy.

"They left when Xena came back," Kale replied. "I think they went to a friend's house?"

Before the youngster could say another word, blue smoke filled the air, and Merlin's voice echoed throughout the room. "Hello you two! Little Kale, how would you like to come see the world from an aerial view?" Kale arched an eyebrow. "…a view from above the clouds!" Kale slowly nodded his head in confusion at the blue smoke. "Excellent! Kane, while everybody else is away, I trust this home of mine in the care of yourself and Xena. Thanks a bundle!"

The blue smoke circled around Kale until the boy and the smoke disappeared. I wonder if I would ever be able to be a wizard like Merlin. And such a powerful man was allowing me to watch over his house…well, with the help of Xena, who, speaking of which, walked down the stairs and greeted me with a smile.

"So I see Kale left to have his fun with Father Merlin," Xena said, looking into my eyes. "Rika and Domino really hit it off. And it seems Crystal, Kristi, and Bela are spending the night at one of their friend's houses. That leaves the two of us…here…alone." I felt myself blushing. Could Xena see my cheeks getting redder? God, I hoped not. "Come up to my room. We can talk there. My feet are killing me!"

And now a girl was letting me go to her room? Not wanting to argue, I followed her up the stairs and went into one of the rooms closest to the staircase. Xena closed the door behind us. The both of us sat down on her bed. "So, Kane, what did Domino mean by sacrifice?"

And so I explained it all to her. How they needed the twenty Keybearers…well, it was seventeen then…to break the barrier by creating a massive sacrifice that should have killed the entire world. I explained how we've been in contact with Ibiki, symbolizing that the Utopians were still very much alive.

"I see," Xena replied. "Not to ruin your relationship or anything, but it seems that Domino is entirely codependent on you. You said he killed hundreds just to have a perfect life with you. He's almost obsessed. Ever wonder why that is?"

"I never really gave it much thought," I replied truthfully. "He also always seemed to explode if I was ever hurt or injured…he killed lots because he was afraid to lose me. Is this typical behavior of a true friend?"

"Sometimes, yes," Xena said. "Friends feel like they owe their best friends their life, and will do everything to make sure that person is happy. That's probably all there is to Domino. Unless he has other feelings inside of him."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind on that," Xena said, trying to change the subject. "I'm glad I was able to meet you, Kane Carter. It's not every day that you pick a guy off the side of the road and have him go to your house. Especially a guy like you." She slipped her hand into mine, but this time instead of blushing, I felt calm, relaxed, and otherwise at peace.

She laid her head upon her pillow to get comfortable, and she forced me to do the same. Our heads were touching as we lay down on the bed, still holding hands. Could this day get any more strange or better? After that moment I had lost track of time. I thought I could hear Xena snoring.

We were extremely close together. And…what was that? I heard my own voice snoring. Was I asleep…and _aware _that I was asleep? Visions flashed in my mind…Domino slaying his parents, the black strike of lightning, the barrier of Utopia shattering, the death of Tara, the reappearance of Ibiki and the rampage of Domino…and then I saw a scene that I did not recognize.

Domino stood in front of the fountain in the Daybreak Courtyard. The clouds above them grew darker, the wind slowly picking up speed. Rika sat on the rim of the fountain, dipping her toes in the water, not paying any attention to Domino. Domino's lips moved as if he said something, but no words came out. Rika appeared to hear him, as she stood up and began walking down the street.

When he was alone, a portal of darkness appeared behind Domino and from it came Dante Netherwood. "Preparations are complete," the man said in a bold, clear voice. "They should be arriving soon." A blast of thunder echoed off of the buildings around the courtyard. "The perfect dark following!" Stretching his arms out, Keyblade Gliders began soaring from over the horizon from all directions. As they neared Domino and Dante, each Glider dissipated into darkness and their respective riders fell to the ground, each landing on their feet.

"We are complete!" Domino yelled out, pumping his fist into the air. "The Seekers of Darkness are all here! Did you use that old legend to convince them?"

Silently, Dante said, "Yes, they will all join the fight against Light so they can obtain the power within this so-called _Kingdom Hearts_. And among these Seekers of Darkness are the other eleven _Dark Users_ from Utopia."

"Ah, so we truly are complete," Domino muttered. "Then I can assume that the others from Utopia didn't show up because they are _loyal_ to the Light. That is understandable…yet foolish." Clearing his throat, he yelled out, "Listen up!" Each of the Keybearers surrounding Domino and Dante looked straight at Domino. "Our plan will soon reach fruition! As soon as this meeting is adjourned, we are to head for the birthplace of all Keyblades…my home, _Sanctuary_. There, we will shut down all light. We will begin an era of darkness…we will fuel the worlds with power hardly anyone has ever seen!"

I slowly opened my eyes, the words Domino had said fresh in my mind. For some reason, I didn't focus too much on that vision. It could have just been a dream for all I knew. I felt a cold wind…the window was partially opened, and my shoulders were poking out from under the blanket, bare. _Bare_? I soon realized that I was sleeping in Xena's bed, _with_ Xena, nude. Xena's eyes slowly opened. "Afternoon, Sunshine."

"What happened?" I asked silently, trying to slowly back away from her, but if I went too far I would fall out of the bed.

"And they say true love can't happen in a day," Xena muttered, putting a hand on my head and stroking my hair. "I've never done anything like this with anyone…I've never had a boyfriend before. But you, there's something about you that I just can't stop loving. Your heart…I can feel it, all of the light it possesses. But you just woke me up…your heart, it was beating rapidly. Like a gun, firing one bullet after another, your heart was pounding from your chest, trying to break free."

I could barely process what she was saying. Although here, in my journal, I can remember our conversation…all I heard at that moment was one, we had _it_, and two, I had a nightmare…no, a vision…about Domino.

Almost immediately, the door slammed open and Rika rushed into the room. Wasn't the door locked? I quickly pulled the covers over my head, but it was too late. Rika shouted out, "Am I interrupting!?" I slowly lifted the covers off of my head in embarrassment. "Oh well. Listen…Domino's doing something! Something bad!" I looked at her in confusion. "He told me to go get us drinks…for the _third_ time…and when I returned he was surrounded by over half of the Daybreak Keybearer population! I didn't want to be seen, so I rushed over here as quickly as I could to get you two!"

"Rika, we'll be out in a minute," Xena said quickly. "Go wait in the kitchen. Once there, _don't move_." Rika left, slamming the door behind her in a rush.

Falling out of Xena's bed, I scrambled to my feet on the floor and found my clothing, quickly slipping into everything. Looking at the door, I waited for Xena to get dressed. Once she finished, the two of us rushed out of her room to find Rika, but she was gone. The front door was wide open. Rain was flying in the house, the floor in front of the door littered with wet leaves soaked in rain.

The minute my foot stepped out of the door, my mind went blank, and was soon replaced by a vision of Domino. He floated in midair in the center of all of the dark Keybearers. Stretching his arms out, he looked to the stormy sky and let the rain slap him in the face.

"I, Domino, call out to the night! The forces of Darkness, I command thee…we shall make sure that the Light be vanquished, and the true power of _Kingdom Hearts_ shall be ours!" He looked around at all of his dark followers. "Every single one of you, do as I've said moments ago! Give me the power of darkness!"

Each of the Keybearers pointed their blades at Domino, and darkness began swirling around the tip of each blade. Dante smiled evilly.

"Domino, stop!" yelled the voice of Rika. None of the darkness users seemed to notice her presence, except for Domino and Dante. Rika ran past the fountain, jumping front of Domino. "Stop this madness now! What are you doing using the darkness like it's some toy, Domino!?" And then as if on cue, beams of darkness shot from each and every Keyblade out of the hundreds surrounding Domino. And instead of fusing with Domino as he obviously intended, the darkness slammed against Rika from all directions.

_Rika!_ I tried to cry out, but I realized this was only a vision. She winced in pain. I could barely watch. Each Keyblade blasted darkness her way, swirling around her in a flurry of pure evil. "AHHHHH!" she screamed out, darkness blasting out of the palms of her hands. Domino looked genuinely stunned; as if caring for the girl would undo the decisions he's made. Dante's expression was hard to read. When each Keyblade lowered, the darkness surrounding Rika vanished. The girl clutched her fists, her lips twisting into a smile. "I feel…reborn."

My eyes snapped open…I was on the floor, being comforted by Xena. Quickly sitting up in the doorway, I yelled out, "Rika's in trouble!"

**.**

**Yes, I just left you with a massive cliffhanger! For those of you who have read Road to Xehanort, the story that comes after this one in continuity, then you already know as of this chapter what is to become of a certain character whom I am not going to name.**


	10. Calling to the Night (II)

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Calling to the Night (II)**

Not explaining the details of how Rika was even in trouble, I dashed out of Merlin's house without waiting for Xena to follow. She did, however, slowly begin to catch up with me as I ran through the pouring rain. I slipped, crashing to the ground and getting my face and palms covered in dirt. Xena yelled out my name, running to where I fell and quickly helped me up.

Wiping the dirt from my face with my arms, I continued dashing through the rain until I reached where the courtyard was. Except I couldn't even see the courtyard. It was surrounded by a circle of men and women, all holding their Keyblades.

"Whoa," Xena said, staring in awe at the hundreds of people. The most Keybearers I've ever seen gathered together were the seventeen at the Lake of Destiny. This was…too much. All of the Keybearers seemed to be focusing towards the sky.

Xena and I fought our way through the crowd until we reached the fountain. Standing on each side of the fountain were Domino and Dante. Floating above the fountain with darkness spiraling around her heels was Rika, an evil and sadistic smile spread across her face. Xena called out her name. Rika merely looked down, silently chuckling.

"Rika," I muttered, my eyes staring straight at Rika. "Did the darkness take over your soul? What happened—?"

"Shut up," Rika said, her eyes falling upon me. She stretched her arms out to either side of her, darkness spiraling around her wrists. She looked like the same old Rika…except something was different. Those large green eyes seemed to glare daggers into my soul. Her smile was the most noticeable…she looked more sadistic than anyone I have ever seen. Her hair was flowing behind her in the strong winds. "I feel…stronger."

"What happened to her?" Xena asked.

Domino still looked as stunned as ever. His lip was quivering. He almost seemed a tad _scared_. "She…" he fumbled his words, unable to talk straight. Finally, he swallowed hard and explained, "She absorbed too much darkness. So much so that it nearly dispersed every fragment of light within her being. I can't…even sense any light within her anymore. I'm… ashamed that this even happened."

"Why so glum, chum?" Rika asked, lowering from the air until she stood tall on the top of the fountain that shot water from it. "As far as I could tell, you love the darkness, and want all worlds to be in this dark era you have in store…then why are you ashamed of accidentally making a little girl like me have a taste of the dark? Hm?"

"Because it's too much; it's consumed your heart!" Domino yelled back.

"This is what we wanted," Dante said, smirking. "Isn't it? We wanted every person to stop being corrupted by that infernal light. And filling their heart and soul with darkness…is exactly what we need."

"See, your buddy gets it," Rika said with a chuckle. "I'm actually glad that this happened." She held her hand out in front of her. "I'm not the scared, worried little girl that I once was. I may have seemed confident on the outside, but I was always terrified of being unloved. Ha, that's why I've bounced from one man to the next, trying ever so desperately to find the love I've longed for." She floated away from the fountain and landed on the ground next to Domino. Whispering in his ear, she mumbled, "You have a fascination for the dark that only I can understand." She put her face up close to Domino's and locked lips with him. She looked to Xena after finishing her long kiss with Domino. "Dear, you just had to come running over here instead of finishing your sex with Kane, didn't you?"

Domino nearly did a spit take, well, if he had a drink in his mouth. At the same time, I immediately began blushing as Xena looked away from Rika, afraid of making eye contact.

"Is that true?" Domino asked.

"Enough," Rika said, her smile turning into an angered frown. "Xena, you always were the weakest link. The frightened little girl always afraid to stay with the perfect man. You had nothing going for you. Crystal's captain of the cheer team and the volleyball team, Kristi's the most popular one in the junior class, Bela is the smartest one in the school…but what are you? Obviously someone nobody would miss."

"That's not true," I snapped at Rika. "I would."

"Nobody asked for your opinion, Golden-Eyes," Rika replied quickly. "Xena's nothing but a slut, having sex with someone she's only known for a day. I have to…test my darkness a little bit. Xena…"

"Xena, run," I whispered, and Xena slowly backed away.

"Too slow!" Rika shouted out, sending a wave of darkness from her palms straight at Xena. It slammed against Xena, sending her flying into the side of a building. I ran to her. "This power is unlike anything I have ever felt before in my life. And it's so easy to control. Domino, let's leave together."

"Huh?" Domino asked.

"You, me, and I _guess_ Kane can come along for the ride," Rika suggested, putting a hand on Domino's shoulder. "Your quest for darkness is perfect. People need to experience power, like me. We'll be close allies, you and I." She looked to Xena. "Sorry, kiddo, but I had to do it. My darkness needed testing." She looked to me. "Kane, I don't hate you. I _do_ see why Xena would want to lose her virginity to you…so hot with that silver hair and that pretty face." She looked to Domino. "Sorry, but I can't be romantically involved with anyone." Domino didn't seem to flinch at that news. "Plus, it's plain as day that you're already in love with somebody else." At that, Domino jumped. In love with _who_? She raised her hand into the air. "Every Keybearer in this dinky little world, listen up! Head to Sanctuary, the birthplace of all Keyblades! Travel to as many worlds along the way and spread as much darkness as you can. Complete what Domino started. Now go!"

She pumped her fist into the air, and each Daybreak Keybearer transformed their Keyblades into a Glider, each of them flying towards the sky and vanishing beyond the dark clouds. They listened to Domino before, but now they listened to _Rika_ as well? Someone who hasn't been in possession of the darkness for long. Those who remained consisted of Domino, Dante, Rika, Xena, and myself.

"Wow, she's better at commanding 'em than you are, Domino," Dante said, staring up at Rika as if she were a goddess. "I have to go. There's somewhere I want to go…someone I want to see." He flew off on his Glider seconds later.

"Why is she acting so different?" Xena asked, picking herself off of the ground. "Power like this shouldn't change the way a person acts, or thinks. Then why—"

"Xena, dear, listen," Rika's feet hit the ground and she walked over to Xena, making the brunette slightly flinch. Rika put a hand under Xena's chin, tilting her head upward so the two could stare into each other's eyes. "I still love you. You're my sister for crying out loud. This darkness changes nothing."

"Didn't you just insult me?" Xena snapped back.

"I must admit, the darkness is a strange thing," Rika said, releasing Xena's chin. "It's the absence of light…it is cruel, power-hungry, and powerful. It can heighten all of your senses and is closer to making you _one with the world_ than light is. The darkness makes you confident, courageous, and downright epic. It makes you smarter, and faster. Instead of being afraid of the dark like all of those light users, it embraces the dark and overpowers the light. That is what the darkness is. This is just what I needed to get out of my shell. A little push."

"How do you know what Darkness is all about?" Domino asked. As he said that, the rain halted.

"All of those rays of darkness that were shot towards me," Rika muttered, clutching her heart. "The darkness holds knowledge, and I have been filled with all of the knowledge and strengths of the dark." Holding each arm out on either side of her, she said with a determined smile, "Domino, time for the true test! Fight me!" She held out her hand, and in it appeared a Keyblade. She can wield a _Keyblade_!?

Her Keyblade was purple, the teeth of her blade as sharper than knives. Right above the dark handle was a large, demonic red eye. Sticking out of either side of the Key were large, demonic-looking wings. "Darksouls!" she yelled out, naming her blade.

"How do you have a Keyblade?" Domino asked out.

"The darkness created it for me," Rika replied. Jumping forward, she slammed her Darksouls into Domino's Starlight. Domino tried to hold his ground. Rika pushed forward until…Domino's Keyblade vanished into darkness. Rika had pushed too hard that the Keyblade vanished from all the stress. Swinging it again, Rika scraped her blade against Domino's stomach before he had time to back away.

"You made my Key disappear," Domino said, holding his hand out in front of him. "You really are strong. Nobody's ever been able to disarm me before. I guess I have to go full throttle. No holding back." He punched the air in front of him, and a fist-shaped shadow escaped his fist, heading toward Rika. She slashed Darksouls, making the dark fist dissipate. She slashed through the air, and a blast of darkness flew at Domino. The boy swiftly jumped over it, the blast of darkness crashing into the fountain behind him. Domino chuckled.

"What's so funny, Domino?" Rika asked, smirking back at the boy. "Don't get cocky, Silver-Eyes."

"Alright, Miss Dark," Domino replied.

"That is so weak, Purple."

"Demonic Witch."

"Barefoot Boy."

"Dark Girl."

"Terrible Kisser."

"Oh snap," Xena muttered. She didn't look as terrified of Rika anymore. If anything, she looked to be enjoying this squabble between Domino and Rika. It was rater enjoyable, despite all that's happened. Rika, despite being completely taken by the darkness, still cared for Xena like a sister and even gave _me_ a compliment. Was the dark really all that bad? It made her more confident. But the way she acted before _was_ confident. She acted normal enough…but that was just above the surface. Beneath her demeanor was that of a scared little girl. That all changed because of the darkness.

This darkness…was it corruption, or a way to get over your fears?

Blue smoke appeared from behind Rika, and out of it appeared Merlin, hovering two feet off of the ground and waving a crooked stick in the air at her back. "I knew I sensed a disturbance in the worlds. A powerful darkness has awakened…within you!" A blast of lightning shot from the stick at Rika. Rika whipped around and held her hand out, a blast of darkness rocketing towards the lightning. The two attacks collided, the darkness overpowering the lightning and blowing past Merlin, whom didn't seem affected by it.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Xena asked. "That's Rika! So what if she has darkness?"

"People like him wouldn't begin to understand how good it feels to have the darkness coursing through their veins," Rika replied to Xena, sending a wave of darkness flying at the old man. Merlin held out his free hand and the darkness was redirected to the side, sending it slamming against the fountain. "He's too immersed in the light to understand. Isn't that right, old man?"

"The light, and the dark, must remain in perfect harmony!" Merlin shouted out. "_That _is the fate of all worlds! Nothing you can do will change that!"

Waving his stick around, Merlin conjured a tornado of fire to begin swirling around Rika's body. Rika simply smiled, the fire reflecting off of her green eyes and making her seem more menacing than ever before. Raising her hands into the air, the bright flames darkened until they were as black as night. The flames rocketed towards Merlin, but were deflected by a cast of Aero magic. The flames dissipated into thin air.

"I thought your magic was rusty, Father Merlin?" Xena questioned.

Merlin chuckled. "This old fuddy-duddy still has some tricks up his sleeve." Raising his stick, which I guess must have been his wand, the ground around Rika froze to ice, though it didn't seem to faze her or make her slip. He swung his wand through the air, a blast of icy cool air blowing towards Rika. She brushed it off as if it was just a small wind, and she leapt forward, swinging Darksouls at Merlin.

Merlin flew higher into the air, avoiding Rika's attack. He twirled his wand in between his fingers, and blue bubbles made of water appeared above his head, each homing in on Rika. They began popping all around her, water exploding into her face, though it didn't make her stumble at all.

"These two are a perfect match for each other," Domino muttered in wonder. He was right. Merlin wasn't being harmed by Rika, and none of Merlin's attacked seemed to faze Rika in the slightest. Eventually one of them had to time out, and the other would have an opening to strike.

Rika leapt at Merlin, and the man did the same. I had to do something. This fight wasn't going to solve anything. I jumped in between the two, about to be sliced in half with Darksouls and whacked in the head with Merlin's wand, until I did something surprising. Holding my arms out on either side of me, a large blast of wind escaped my body like an explosion, knocking Rika back and sending Merlin flying into the wall of a building.

Rika stared in awe at me as Merlin slowly stood himself up. I looked in front of me. A thin vortex of air was still swirling around me, cutting at the air. I lowered my arms, and the wind vanished. I fell to my knees. The skin of my arms, I noticed, was cut by the harsh winds caused by my own attack. Blood dribbled out of each individual cut. Domino didn't seem to notice. He jumped into the air and clicked his heels.

"Kane, you just used Aero!" Domino shouted out, running over to me and finally noticing my cuts. Wincing, he yelled out, "Cure!" Each cut closed, the blood vanishing.

"Your magic's _rusty_?" Xena asked. "I'd be blown away if I saw how you are at full power."

"Definitely no pushover," Rika said, stepping over to Merlin and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm still Rika, Father. No amount of darkness will change that. Why can't you stop being terrified and start appreciating the very thing that _began_ the worlds in the first place? All worlds began in darkness, just as they will end. The heart…your heart of light…is no different. In the end, darkness will take every world back to whence it came, along with you. To the _darkness_."

"You may be right," Merlin said, hanging his head down, his blue pointed hat falling to the wet ground, exposing his light black hair. "But don't let it cloud your judgment, girl."

"Where's Kale at?" I asked.

"Safe," Merlin replied. "He's being watched by a few Keybearers back in the Daybreak Protection Committee Headquarters. They, as well as myself, detected a powerful darkness awakening, and I came over here as soon as possible." He walked to me, staring into my eyes. "You may not be that experienced in using magic, but your powers are stronger than any other I have ever seen. You'll be a fine wizard, Kane."

I bowed in his presence. I don't know why I did it, but I felt as if I needed to do it. Rika crossed her arms. "Can we get home? The darkness seems to be eating away at all the food I ate earlier. I'm starving." I looked to Rika. One moment, she was scaring the living hell out of me, and the next, she seemed almost like the same old Rika…only more confident.

And we returned back to Merlin's place. Kale was there waiting with two _light_ Keybearers, and they vanished upon our arrival. Domino ran and jumped onto the couch in the living room, lying down with his arms behind his head as he relaxed. Xena and I sat at the table while Rika raided the fridge. Kale said he was tired and headed upstairs to nap. Merlin sat on a recliner in the living room, looking almost out of breath.

"I'm getting too old for this," he muttered, and I'm not sure if I imagined it, but I could've sworn his black hair began to turn gray in some places.

I looked to Domino on the couch. So many thoughts clouded my mind. He wanted the darkness to rule all, so other people wouldn't be corrupted by the light any longer. He also was my best friend, and would kill if anything happened to me. So was he a good guy, or not? He murdered his parents…I still have no explanation for that. I was taught that the black magic…the _darkness_...was a cruel entity, vicious, even _evil_. But the way it made Rika more…confident…was it really all that bad? It made Domino powerful, it changed Rika a whole lot, and she had said that the worlds started in darkness. I was slowly finding less and less ways to call the darkness _evil_.

I went upstairs into the guest bedroom to find Kale asleep in _my_ bed. I found where I had put the book Merlin had given me earlier. I sat in Domino's bed and opened the book, turning to the second page. It was an illustration, drawn with dark ink. I saw two figures standing opposite one another on a barren wasteland. On was shrouded with a black coat so I couldn't see his face or physical features. The other one—

I gasped. It looked identical to me. The person on the page had longer hair, yes, but it was definitely me. Silver hair, golden eyes…

A steady knocking came from outside, and I saw Xena in the doorway. I smiled, sitting up and walking towards her, leaving the book open on the bed. Closing the bedroom door as I stepped out, I looked into Xena's eyes, smiling at the way the light above made them sparkle.

"So…when are you going to leave?"

I gasped at the question. I had completely forgotten that Domino and I were even traveling. In actuality, I didn't even want to leave. Kale and I could stay here happily with Merlin and the girls, and not have to worry about Domino's ambitions, the Keyblade Hunters, or anything else that has happened over the past few days.

"I don't know," I muttered, looking towards the ground now. "I kinda want to stay here, but…Domino needs me. Where he's going, he'll be heartbroken without me."

"I understand; friends _do_ come first, after all," Xena replied with a smile. "But come back and visit every once and while. I'll miss you lots." Slipping my hands in hers, she leaned forward and kissed me. Her lips felt warm, and I felt as if nothing could tear us apart. Until Rika literally tore us apart.

Standing in between us, Rika grumbled, "That's enough PDA, guys. There are still some of us here, you know." Xena stuck her tongue out at Rika. "Domino says to get your stuff. The three of us will be leaving shortly."

"So you're mind's made up?" Xena asked, concerned for her sister. "You're really gonna leave this place behind?"

"I follow the path of darkness, a road of passage that shall lead me towards my destiny," Rika cryptically responded. "Oh, watch this." She snapped her fingers, and the light from each of the lightbulbs lining the hall flew from the bulbs and into Rika's hand, in which they each turned to darkness. It was now dark in the hall. "I took away the light from the lightbulbs. Pretty simple. Now, let's put 'em back. Black orbs appeared in her hands and they shot towards their respective lightbulbs, each of them slowly lighting up until the hall was lit again. "Okay, Kane, get your stuff ready."

"I think it'd be wise to keep Kale here," Merlin muttered, walking into the hall from the staircase as Rika stepped down the stairs. "Keep him out of all this darkness nonsense." He approached me and whispered into my ear: "If you will, monitor Domino as he progressively delves deeper into the darkness. Same with Rika. Report back to me if anything happens. You can communicate with me if you try hard enough. Now I do believe Domino and Rika are waiting for you, son."

"Yes, sir," I replied, bowing again for some reason, as I saw Merlin hobble off and down the steps. Looking to Xena, I winked, heading back into the room and grabbing my satchel. I slipped the book of prophecy Merlin had given to me into my satchel. I was all ready to go. I rushed down the stairs with Xena right behind me. The front door was wide open, Domino and Rika both standing next to it, waiting for me.

Xena smiled, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I've only known you for a short while, but…please, just go. You can't just stay here. You need to be free. And to make sure that they don't—" Merlin elbowed her shoulder hard, making her stop talking. "Go."

"Wait!" I yelled, and ran back up the stairs. I couldn't leave Kale like I did last time. I rushed into the guest bedroom and saw Kale sleeping soundly. Bending over him, I lowered my face down and kissed his soft forehead. His eyes opened and he stared up at me. I smiled. "Hey, buddy."

"You woke me up," Kale said, pouting. "Why…are you wearing your bag? Are we going somewhere?"

"I am," I told him in a soft voice. "You're not." By the looks of Kale's face, if I would've had supersonic hearing, I would have heard his heart shatter. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but it's too dangerous for you outside. Enix's place was temporary…but this place should be your home, at least until I come back. We can't risk you being in harm's way again."

"Don't go," Kale pleaded, a tear dripping down his cheek as he grabbed my shirt tight. "Please don't go."

"I have to, Kale," I muttered. "Domino and I, and Rika, have to keep traveling for now. It is too dangerous for you, Kale."

Bending over more, I wrapped my arms around the boy. I was almost afraid to let go…to have to leave him again. This time, I wasn't sure when I'd even come back. Mustering all my courage and strength, I released the boy and began walking out of the room, faintly hearing the sobs from the room. I almost turned back, when I heard him yell, "I'll miss you!"

"Same here," I called back, and without looking back, I went downstairs again to meet Rika and Domino. "Merlin, Xena…take care of Kale for me. Rika, Domino, let's go."

The three of us stepped outside. Domino summoned his Glider, while Rika…summoned her own. Hers looked demonic. It looked similar to Domino's but was all black and dark purple. It had wings on it that probably made it go faster. The wings looked demonic. On the area she stood was a large red demonic eye. I stood behind Domino on his. I looked back to the doorway. Merlin and Xena were smiling and waving at us…and I faintly saw the body of Kale stepping down the stairs to look out the doorway. His little arms raised and waved at me.

I waved at him, and within seconds, we were off. Rika took off faster than us because of those wings that raised her speed. Domino and I followed closely behind. Then we crossed the border.

**.**

**Writing that farewell to Kale was hard to do, but it had to be done. So how'd you like this chapter? As you can see, Kane is very conflicted on whether or not he should still be Domino's friend, and whether or not the darkness is truly evil or not. And YES! I've waited for so long to introduce Rika as part of the main cast and now...she is! No, she is not here just to replace Tara. She was always meant to be in this trio. Anyway...stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	11. Rolling in the Deep

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Rolling in the Deep**

Without much conversation in between Daybreak Town and the next world, Domino and I sped alongside Rika until we crossed the next border. I had noticed how the Lanes Between were filled with Keyblade Gliders, each heading towards the world of the choice. When we crossed the border of the world, a warm wind swept through my hair. Above us was nothing but bright blue, and white clouds spread out like wings across the endless sky.

Below us was a seemingly endless ocean filled with sparkling blue water. And floating atop the water was something that looked like a ship. A cruise ship. We'd read about them in books, but I was almost certain we didn't have any cruises back on Utopia.

As we lowered to the water, the scent of the salty sea filled my lungs, the water below us lightly spraying in my face from the soft wind. I reached below the Glider and ran my finger along the surface of the cool water. Kale's face flashed in my mind. I shook my head, trying to shake away the memory so I wouldn't be tempted to take control of the Glider and steer us in the other direction.

Rika chuckled as she made her Glider vanish beneath her feet as she jumped into the air, doing a double-flip in midair and diving down into the water. Her head bobbed out of the water and she began to swim like an expert towards the large ship that seemed to be going at a decent speed as opposed to how it looked from an aerial view.

Domino snapped his fingers and the Glider vanished from beneath our feet as well. Domino flipped in the air just as Rika had done, and dived into it almost as perfectly. I, however, wasn't so lucky. I plummeted into the water and nearly swallowed a gallon of water if it weren't for Domino yanking me by the shirt, lifting my head from the water.

I looked above. Several birds flew in front of the sun, their black silhouettes casting shadows on the bright water we swam in. "Come on, watch," Domino said. "Aero!" An orb of wind surrounded us, creating a whirlpool beneath us. The two of us rocketed into the air until we saw the deck of the ship. We landed, Domino landing perfectly on his feet and me landing perfectly on my face. The orb of wind vanished from around us.

I clutched my chest, feeling as though I had just jumped off of a roller coaster, and looked to the side where Rika had appeared out of darkness. I jumped a little, and the black haired girl laughed in amusement. I found it strange how nobody had noticed our sudden arrival. The deck was crawling with a number of people. Where were we exactly?

"Welcome to the Titanic, you three," a voice said from behind me. I whipped around and saw someone sitting on top of the rim that surrounded the deck. He looked calm, even though if he would've fallen he'd plummet a hundred feet into the water. He has short light brown hair, hazel eyes, and fair skin. He wore a long-sleeved shirt and a black t-shirt on top of it. He wore beige pants, white socks, and dark running shoes.

"And you are?" Rika asked rather rudely. Had he noticed that we just kinda _appeared_? Normally people who go on cruises need tickets to get on the ship. At least, that's what I thought, anyway.

"The name's Robin Cale," he replied, scratching the back of his head. The man looked rather nervous, as if not wanting to speak. "Call me Six." I didn't bother to ask him about the odd nickname. Before I was able to say anything, Six interrupted, "I bet your wondering why I'm not freaking out by your appearance here."

"I knew you looked familiar," Domino said, looking up at Six with a smile. Six looked to be around twenty-one years old, and was pretty tall to show for it. "You're one of the Keybearers who was tapped in Utopia with me. Good to see ya."

"The Utopian race survived, no thanks to you," Six replied with a scowl. He looked to Rika, and merely just disregarded her afterwards, looking back to me. "This world is a rather odd one. People board this ship, and people depart. It's like a never ending cycle. As if this ship is meant to keep on going, and going, and going." The nervousness was gone from his face now; he looked a bit more comfortable speaking to us, or well, me. "The docks and this ship…that's all there is. Try to leave the docks, and you simply appear on the other side of the world on the other dock."

"Does sound odd," I replied. "Kind of interesting."

"I'm here to study what is wrong with this world exactly," Six said, his hazel eyes staring into my eyes. "Once the people depart this boat, they vanish, as if they've never existed. They are soon replaced by new passengers, and once their voyage is complete, the cycle is repeated."

"Six, do you know of our plan?" Domino asked. I gasped at the mention of it. I did _not_ want to hear about that quest for the darkness that Domino had spoken about in Daybreak Town.

"Don't speak to me," Six muttered, averting his eyes from the three of us. He jumped off of the rim, beginning to walk away. "Enjoy your cruise, fellas. I hope it's not your last." He specifically targeted Domino with that statement, as he looked straight at him. Six walked off.

"Interesting guy," I muttered. Putting my hands behind my head, I said, "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Rika, we need to discuss _us_," Domino said. _Oh boy_, I knew where this conversation was going.

"Nothing to discuss," Rika replied simply. "I can't be romantically involved with you. I could have if, let's say, I _didn't_ have the darkness coursing through my veins. But times change. Plus, you'd probably just end up in the hall of fame that's filled with everyone from my devastating love life."

"You're probably right," Domino muttered, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Before you became one with the dark, why _had_ you chosen me? Your love-life must suck. Word of advice: Improve your dating skills."

I chuckled. I walked away from the two and decided to explore the ship a bit. And I must say, it was one of the largest I've ever seen. Not that I've seen or been on any ships in my life. I had found my way to a door that led into the interior of the ship. I looked like a lobby to a hotel. I knew this because Domino and I had stayed at a few hotels for a few nights throughout our life.

The carpet was red, lined with golden designs around the edges. The walls were painted an assortment of blue and green colors to represent the colors of the sea. From the ceiling hung a huge chandelier.

Hundreds of people scattered about, heading up and down the stairs or to the elevator. The ship definitely looked of an old style. The elevators weren't even electronically operated. They had a person pull or release a rope on the inside of the elevator to raise it or lower it. Sitting in a chair at the corner of the large lobby was Six, reading an old book that looked to be as old as the book of prophecy Merlin had given to me.

"Six," I said, trying to raise my voice so he could hear me as I began walking towards him. His eyes darted up from his book. "So…you're one of the ones who helped seal away Utopia?"

"Yes," Six replied in a slightly annoyed tone. "I'm also one of the people who helped destroy that barrier and kill hundreds. Can I help you?" I couldn't read his emotions. He was both annoyed and angered as well as a tad nervous.

"It's about Domino," I replied, and as soon as I mentioned that name, his eyes went back to his page. Six refused to speak. "Uh, Six?" I saw his eye twitch in annoyance. "Six?" No response. "Robin Cale!?" That sparked a reaction. His book slammed, and he set it to the side, eyeing me suspiciously. I nearly jumped at his silent outburst. His eyes seemed to sadden, and he said, "I'm sorry. I'm just a little on edge. I wasn't panning on spending a cruise with someone who tricked me into killing all of those innocents."

"How did he trick _you_?" I asked.

Six bit his lip. "He told me that to break the barrier, it would require a sacrifice. He said there's darkness within every heart, and that to break this barrier, we would have to sacrifice our darkness. I for one was happy about this. I would be able to rid myself of that infernal darkness deep inside of my heart. But instead, lives were taken. Escaping Utopia was not worth this."

"I'm sorry," I told him sincerely. "I somewhat feel responsible for this. Domino's a little too codependent on me. He would kill in order for the two of us to live a happy life. And he killed hundreds of Utopians so that we can travel together." Six put a hand on my shoulder as if to say that it wasn't my fault. "What do I do? He's obviously so far into the darkness that he can't get out, but…he's still my best friend, and I love him. Our friendship means more to me than anything. What am I supposed to do?"

I suddenly felt myself on the verge of tears. I blinked away the tears that began forming, afraid of looking weak in front of Six. Memories came rushing back. Domino murdering his parents, hundreds of Utopians perishing from the storm Domino and the other Keybearers generated, Domino killing the Keyblade Hunters, and finally, Domino commanding all of the dark Keybearers in Daybreak Town. All of these memories showed how dark of a person my friend could truly be…but were they enough to make me quit being friends with him?

"Friendship, whether within light or within darkness, reigns supreme over all," Six said with a smile. "I may not like Domino all that much, or at all for that matter, but the two of you are close friends, and no amount of darkness should change that." At least Six understood the meaning of friendship. Every day I spent with Domino, I have been questioning my own views on friendship.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a burning sensation in my pocket. Reaching into it, I took out a button—Enix's button—which Domino had given me before we had arrived at the demolition of the Castle of Glass. It was hot and glowing white. I had almost dropped it. I felt myself slip away from consciousness, only for a moment. A scene appeared in my head…one I did not recognize.

It looked like a dark, circular room. Shadows danced along the walls in the candlelight that was being generated in the middle of the room, where a tall candelabrum stood. Standing inches behind it was a girl, close to my age. Her hair was a light shade of pink which made it look almost white. Her eyes sparkled an amber-orange, reflecting the candlelight. She wore a white shirt that revealed her belly, white-khaki shorts that went above her knees, and a small white cape that hung from the back of her neck to her back's midsection.

A ray of light shone in the corner of the room, and when the brightness died down, Phoenix Asher stood there, holding the wall to the side of it as if trying to scratch through it with his nails. "What's the matter, Phoe?" the girl asked worriedly, giving Asher a nickname that obviously agitated him. "Where's the boss?"

"I'm tired of all of this," Asher grumbled, making his way to the candelabrum. Shadows danced across his face, the candlelight revealing his emotions. His eyes were wide, as if he were extremely angry. "I was supposed to make sure that Domino and Kane were to perish in that world. The boss left me behind to make sure they died. But…" From his pocket, he yanked out a small white button—identical to the one I possessed. "The tracking device in their button is still activated!" He angrily shoved the button in the girl's face. "They're still alive!" He then shoved it back into his pocket. "Lucina, what am I to do?"

"You can start by calming down," the girl named Lucina said in a soft yet firm voice, grabbing Asher by the hands. "Ash, you'll get through this. You always have, since the day we met three years ago."

"You think it's easy for me to forget about them?" Asher snapped at her, yet she didn't flinch at his sudden outburst. Domino…he's put all of this in motion! The book says he's the Dark Lord!" His eyes narrowed to the side, and then whispered, "I have to take his life…before the boss finds out. The Keyblade Hunters must keep Domino's spared life a secret from Him, at least until I do away with Domino." Asher snapped his fingers.

Portals of _artificial light _appeared in a circle around Asher, Lucina, and the candelabrum. At least twenty Keyblade Hunters were surrounding them; maybe more. "What do you think you are doing?" Lucina asked angrily.

"Listen up, fellow Hunters!" Asher announced, his sudden booming voice echoing off of the walls. "The one we call the Dark Lord is still very much alive, and is traversing the worlds yet again, spreading darkness with every step, with every breath. You are to all keep this revelation a secret from Lord Ibiki. Half of you, come with me as we go and find _Domino_. The other half, stay at Lucina's side and continue collecting Keyblades. Our quest is far from over."

Snapping his fingers again, half of the Hunters in the room vanished into bright portals, just as they had entered. "If you're going out again—" Lucina started, a hat appeared in her hand. She put the hat in her hands on Domino's head. It was a black fedora with white stripes lining the rim, and a white feather poking out from the left side of the hat. "—you'd best go out in style."

Adjusting the fedora on his head, Asher smirked. "I won't be long. Domino shall fall by my hand once and for all." Asher ruffled Lucina's hair, making the girl giggle, and the boy before her vanished into light.

My eyes cleared up. I could see…the ground. I had doubled over and fallen to my knees, my eyes staring straight at the ground as Six shook me awake. "What's the matter? What happened?" he called up. I pushed myself up, startling Six.

"I have to warn Domino," I muttered, and began running towards the entrance we came through.

"Warn him of what!?" Six yelled out, following behind me. And suddenly, the glass of the windows lining the walls on either side of the entrance exploded into shards of glass, littering the ground and making everyone aboard scream out in fright. "What the—?"

I pushed the doors open and rushed on deck, where ten figures floated up in the sky, all clad in white robes with hoods pulled over their heads, shrouding their faces. Standing on the rim of the deck was a figure wearing a white robe with a fedora on his face, tilted downward to hide his face. His mouth was still visible. His robe and his white hair blew about behind him.

"Who's that!?" several people yelled. Several children screamed, older people yelling at the people surrounding the Titanic.

"Who indeed." The man on the rim of the deck smirked. "The name's Asher." He tilted his fedora upward, revealing his face. "Phoenix Asher." He threw off his robes to reveal his white suit and black tie. "Obliterator of light…and destroyer of darkness—that's me." Domino and Rika appeared on either side of me, their Keyblades already out, ready for battle. "Surrender Keybearer Domino over to me, and gather under the name… of the Keyblade Hunters!"

He jumped off of the rim and landed softly on the deck floor beneath him. His gun-Keyblade hybrid appeared in his left hand, and he pointed it straight for Domino. "You just had to show up," I muttered under my breath. "In front of a bunch of innocent people who just wanted to ride this ship!"

"They'll thank me for showing up as I did, Kane," Asher said, chuckling. He stretched a hand out before him. "Passengers of this ship! Head inside away from any harm that is to be caused by Domino!" And like that, each of the passengers barged one after the other into the interior of the ship. All that remained were me, Domino, Rika, and Six. "Now, to get rid of any unnecessary distractions!" Snapping his fingers, two orbs of light shot to me, sending a sphere of artificial light around me.

"Kane!" Domino shouted out. Domino was just about to explode as he had done in Enix's world, but something stopped him. Rika held her hand to the back of Domino's head, and darkness seemed to be circling from Domino's head to Rika's hand. What was she doing? Whatever it was that she was doing, it seemed to calm down Domino a lot.

Rika smiled. "So, I can assume that Domino and you are not on good terms? Well, _Phoenix Asher_, you've messed with the wrong team!" Taking her hand from the back of Domino's head, she blasted forward to Asher, both hands outstretched before her and shooting darkness from her palms, her Darksouls flying by her side as she shot like a rocket towards Asher.

Holding out his gloved hand, Asher generated a ring of light around his wrist, which shot from his hand and expanded. The ring was large enough now to fit on a person's body; maybe even larger. The ring was now around Rika, and instantly, it closed up and squeezed her body. The girl fell to the ground, a ring of artificial light surrounding her and keeping her slightly immobilized.

"Who is this guy?" Six asked.

"Were you not listening to me before!?" Asher screamed out. "I am Phoenix Asher, Keyblade Hunter!" He shot a bullet of light at Six, but Six deflected it with a Keyblade of his own. The color patterns from the tip of the blade, to the base of the handle, are black and white. The keychain at the base of the handle was a Yin and Yang symbol. Tied around the Keyblade's keychain is a pink ribbon. "I've stalled long enough! Domino, you will fall by my hand!"

A beam of artificial light nearly exploded from Asher, rocketing its way towards Domino. Without thinking I jumped in front of Domino to shield him from the attack. Rika yelled from the ground, "Kane, you idiot! You wanna get yourself killed!?"

I braced my arms in front of me, and when I felt no attack hit me, I looked up. Out of magic, I created a large, six-foot octagonal shaped mirror that floated in the air in front of me. It was reflecting the artificial light back at Asher, colliding with the boy and sending him to the ground. Asher slowly lifted his head up. The ring of light around Rika vanished, and immediately, she exploded with darkness and flew towards Asher, grabbing the boy's neck as she slammed his head back to the ground.

"I give up, I give up!" Asher yelled out as blood began to drip from his nose.

"Why do you need to kill Domino?" Rika asked loudly in Asher's face.

"He's the Dark Lord, someone said to bring eternal pain and suffering to the worlds," Asher replied, slowly beginning to chuckle. When he didn't stop chuckling, Rika slammed his head down once more. "Sorry!" Asher yelled out in pain. "The Keyblade Hunters are a band of people who use artificial light, which we are using to take away people's Keyblades and to make sure that a war will not begin. Your darkness shows on your outside, young lady. Domino's darkness, however, runs deep within his heart…with every world he travels to, he sprinkles a little darkness into his every step. It's a plague! He's poisoning the worlds!"

Rika released her grip on Asher's neck, looking to Domino. Domino approached the two of them and muttered, "Just leave us alone. The only war being created is the war you're declaring on the Keybearers."

"The Tome of Prophecy says otherwise!" Asher yelled out. "That prophetic book details the past, present, and future of the war that _you_, Domino, are starting! If you're dead, the war will never begin, and everything to transpire in the future will never come to pass. Don't you see!? Killing you is the only way!"

He lifted his hand up, and I heard Domino yelp out. My purple haired friend fell to his knees, his fedora falling off of his head as his head hit the ground. He started coughing up…light?

"He's choking him with light!" Six yelled out in surprise. "He's going to drown in it!"

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" he asked out. Rika went to stab him with her Darksouls, but it passed harmlessly through him as he vanished into light. He reappeared on the rim of the deck. "All that light exploding out of your dark heart? It's terrible, isn't it?"

Domino kept coughing and a river of artificial light flowed from his mouth. Seeing my friend down like this was unreal. He was always one of the strongest people I knew. He couldn't die. I wouldn't let him. I extended my hand out, and a ring of fire appeared around my wrist. I concentrated as hard as I could. I felt a burning rage filling my body. My eyes steamed, my hair smoldered, and my teeth nearly glowed with a burning hotness.

Im clenched my fist, and a ring of fire appeared in the air around Asher. "What is this?" he yelled out. "Too…hot…" The ring of fire closed in on him. "Stop! I have to…" Without another word, he voluntarily fell over backwards towards the ocean below. A splash was heard seconds later.

Domino caught his breath. Blood dripped from his lip. Has he been _that_ much in pain? He wiped up the blood from his lips. He smiled, blood staining his teeth. "It's all good; I'm alright, Kane." He rushed to me, wrapping his arms around me. When he finally released me, he said, "You used a Reflect spell _and_ a Fire spell! You're getting better by the minute, buddy!"

"You don't own a Keyblade, but you can use magic?" Six asked, looking at me as if studying my emotions just by looking into my eyes. "You're a wizard, then?"

"Like Merlin," Rika smiled. "I don't know how it's possible, Golden-Eyes, but you may be the first wizard to appear in decades. Merlin was the last. Now you…you're a wizard, Kane."

"I don't feel magical," I replied, holding my palm in front of my face. I concentrated, but nothing happened. "Of course," I said glumly. I couldn't use magic all the time…just whenever Domino or I or anyone else were in trouble. I heard what sounded like a missile.

Rocketing from the water below and towards the sky was a white hot comet, the shadowy figure of Asher inside. "This isn't over!" I heard his voice echo out. "I'll be back, Domino! I will finish you off and stop this prophecy!"

Asher vanished beyond the sky. I fell to my knees. Would our traveling always be like this? We find a nice world, meet someone new, and then get attacked by some prophecy-stopping super team led by Phoenix Asher? The prophecy he was talking about…that was in the book I had gotten from Merlin.

People started stepping outside again, all looking either extremely confused or extremely terrified. Six snapped his fingers and each shard of glass that had shattered from the windows had started glowing with light. They all flew towards the broken windows and reassembled themselves. It now looked like nothing had damaged the ship at all.

Six smiled. "I must find out why this ship goes on an infinite loop. I will stay on here until the voyage is done. What about the three of you?" It almost seemed like he didn't care that Domino and Rika were _of the dark_ anymore. He was referring to all of us when he spoke.

"We'll stay for a night," I decided for Domino. I didn't want to leave just yet. I had to have one night of normalcy for once.

Six's Keyblade vanished. He turned around, and walked away, waving behind him. Although he couldn't see me, I waved back. Almost all at once, the daylight shining from the sun above turned to night, an eerie darkness and calmness casting over the sea.

"How'd that happen so quickly?" I asked.

"That must be the way this world works," Domino replied, staring at the dark sky. Several stars shone in the sky, and were just bright enough to shine onto the water below and to light the way for the ship.

The passengers of the ship were so silent as they just walked back into the ship. Rika walked to one of the foldable chairs and opened it up. She stripped her shirt off and revealed she had a black and blue bikini top underneath. She lay down on the chair as if expecting the darkness to tan her.

Domino and I chuckled, walking to the railing of the boat and leaning over it, staring into the dark unknown. "I'm so proud of you, you know," Domino said, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" I asked, unsure of what he meant.

"I thought I would always have to protect you; I felt responsible for you," Domino explained. His voice shook a bit. "But you protected and saved _me_ today. If you can do that, surely you can take care of yourself." Where was he getting at with this? His fist clutched the railing. "Maybe you don't need your ol' buddy Domino to protect you from evil anymore. You'd do just fine…on your own." I couldn't tell because it was dark, but I thought I could hear him silently crying to himself. Was he really taking all of this _that_ seriously?

"I still need you, dummy," I chuckled, seeing the corner of his mouth rise up as he slowly smiled. "I always will. But don't be completely overprotective—don't let your anger explode out of you."

"My…anger?" Domino asked. Did he not know what I meant by that?

"You possess strong powers, Domino, I understand that," I told him. The wind in the air pushed my bangs to the side. "But you also have serious anger…that explodes from you every time I'm in danger. You _kill_ to be with me."

"Kill?" he asked, as if he didn't know the meaning of the word.

"All of those Hunters back at the Castle of Glass," I replied. "Mr. Brunner, and all of those Utopians who didn't survive. And…" Domino looked at me in the eyes. "And your parents."

"They tried to stop me," he said, hanging his head down. He didn't look angry at me for bringing that up…he looked sad, upset. "They tried to keep me from opening the door to other worlds. To keep me from being with you. After that…_I _couldn't control myself. I went on a rampage and—" His voice choked. "—and I killed them. They were good people. All of the Utopians were good people. Sure, Elijah lost his way, but he was originally good at heart. But I killed all of these…good people." His crying was more noticeable now.

I put my hand on his cheek and wiped away his tears for him, but he didn't even smile at that. "I almost blew up today as well, but…I don't know, it was like Rika channeled my darkness and controlled it with her own, and it…calmed me. I'm glad you couldn't see me like that…a _monster_."

"You just need help controlling the darkness," I told him with a smile, putting an arm around him. "You said yourself that the darkness heightens all senses…including emotions. It's not you who explodes like that…it's the mix of emotions you feel about me added with the darkness…and that makes you go a little crazy. Don't worry about it."

"You're too nice to me," Domino muttered, looking to the ground. "I've done nothing but caused pain to you. I took you away from your home, when you didn't even want to leave in the first place. I killed Tara. I'm the reason the two of us had to go our separate ways from Kale, who's in a world in which he doesn't even belong. And now a maniac is chasing us down so he could kill me."

"I don't care," I replied truthfully. "None of it is your fault. You just wanted to leave the place you were forced to be locked in. I understand that."

"Thank you," he replied, and leaned in, gently kissing my forehead before he looked back towards the sky.

After what seemed like an hour of silence, Domino said, "Watch this." He made Starlight appear in his hand. He swung it towards the sky, and shards of ice flew from its tip and to the sky. Each shard of ice exploded in the black sky, spelling out my name in crystal blue letters.

"Whoa," I replied. "What was that?"

"A Blizzard spell," he replied. "So far you've used Thunder, you've used Aero, and you've used Reflect and Fire. Try a Blizzard spell."

"Let's see," I muttered to myself. I used Fire whenever the rage inside me began to build up. Blizzard would have to be the opposite. I had to cool myself down, feel calm, at peace. "Blizzard!" I held my hand towards the sky, but nothing happened. "Blizzard!" I concentrated, clutching my fist, but nothing happened. "It's no use," I said, dropping my hand. "It only works in the heat of the moment."

"Um…Kane?" Domino asked. I looked to him.

"What?"

"Look." I looked down below and gasped. All along the side of the boat was frozen water that trailed onward until it was in front of the ship. "You were pointing at the sky but apparently your ice spell worked on the water."

I chuckled, feeling proud of myself, and ran towards the front of the ship to see where the ice ended. Domino ran behind me until we both reached the railing at the very front of the boat. "Oh no," I muttered. The ice extended far enough in front of the boat, but where it stopped, the ice stood tall like a glacier. The boat neared it, several minutes away from colliding with it. "This can't be good!"

"What did you two idiots do?" Rika yelled from behind us, slipping her shirt on. She approached the edge of the ship and nearly chuckled at the sight of us inching ever closer to a fifty-foot tall iceberg. "Ah, I see, that's what."

"How was my Blizzard that strong?" I asked Domino, but he didn't seem to know.

"Somebody has to turn the boat," Domino said quickly. "If not, a direct hit will end us all!"

"Is that a—?" a voice asked from behind us. Stepping out of the interior of the ship was Six, walking towards us. "An iceberg!? That was never here on any of the other voyages in this loop. Only magic could change things like that. What did you guys do?"

"It was an accident," I muttered, biting my lower lip.

"Someone steer this boat away from that iceberg!" Domino yelled out. As if an invisible person heard him, the boat slowly began turning to the left to avoid the oncoming hazard. "It's not going to work."

He was right. The ship was still going fast. We got closer and closer until…I fell onto my butt. The ship began shaking violently as it hit the side of the glacier, breaking the ice in half and fracturing the side of the ship. I ran to the side railing and saw a large hole in the side of the ship as we passed the iceberg. The ice was inches away from my face, the coolness radiating from the ice.

"We have to warn everybody!" Six screamed out, running towards the door to enter the interior of the ship. Domino, Rika, and I followed him inside. It was quiet, _abandoned_. "That's not possible…before, there were several people hanging out in here. Where'd they all go?"

"I don't know…" I replied, unsure of what to say.

"I think I understand it," Six said, looking up at the chandelier. "This is a world on an infinite loop…nothing ever changes. People get on, people get off, and the cycle continues. Whatever happened to create this iceberg…it disrupted the flow of the loop. No loop exists anymore. The people on this ship…they're like phantoms. The vanish as soon as they get off this ship. Now that there's no more loop, the phantoms have vanished…the ship's about to go down so they have no more purpose. They're only purpose was to ride this ship and get off. But now…they can't do that. So now all the passengers are gone."

"What kind of world works like this though?" I asked, getting more and more confused by the minute.

"I don't know; it's one of the many mysteries I'd like to solve," Six replied. We suddenly felt the ship tip over. The chairs and desks in the lobby seemed to slide to the left side, where the ship seemed to lean at.

"We need to see how much water came in the ship," I suggested to Six, who nodded. "I'll go with you, Six. Maybe we can patch up the hole and prevent more water from entering. We can save this world."

"That's too crazy to try, but…let's do it," Six replied, grabbing my hand. "You sure you wanna come? I don't want to put you in harm's way." I nodded, symbolizing that I didn't care if I was in harm's way or not. I have a chance to try and save a world…I couldn't pass it up. I couldn't do anything for Enix's world, but this world could be saved. I clutched Six's hand hard, and in a flash of blue light, we felt the world slip away from us. We reappeared in a hallway below deck.

"We're deep in the ship's core," I noted. "Do you hear that?"

Seconds after I said that, turning the corner of the hallway was a river of water that blasted its way passed us. I was up to my neck in water. The water was freezing cold, and I nearly screamed out at its surprisingly cold temperature. This morning it was warm water, but this wasn't anywhere near that temperature.

"Watch," I told Six, holding my arms out to either side of me. And instantly, an orb of swirling air appeared around me, drying off my clothes as it bounced the water away from us. I tried controlling it to the best of my ability so the wind wouldn't cut me or Six, but I failed. Cuts began appearing along Six's shirt. I slammed my hands downward, and the orb of air, Six, and myself blasted upwards, crashing through the ceiling above us until we flew up passed all of the floors. We eventually went through the last ceiling and we found ourselves in the lobby again. "it's no use, there's too much water for us to go through. This is impossible."

I made the vortex of air vanish from around me. Six's shirt was nearly ripped in half from the air. He looked to be aggravated with it so he ripped his shirt off. I gasped. On the middle of his back were six cuts in his skin…it looked like someone would have tried slashing him with a knife and succeeded six times.

Time almost seemed to speed up. The elevator doors and the doors leading to the stairwells blasted open, water being released into the lobby and rising up to our knees. Both Domino and Rika were floating above the water using the power of darkness.

"I take it that patching up that hole didn't work?" Rika asked.

"Too much water down there," Six replied. "There's no way we could have stayed there. We have to leave _now_. This world's already about to perish!"

He ran outside, followed by Domino, Rika, and I. The top tip of the Titanic began to rise up as the back end sunk into the water. Chairs and desks and everything else on deck and in the lobby slid down to the back of the boat, crashing through the doors and windows of the lobby. Domino, Rika, and Six each made their own Keyblade Glider appear.

I jumped on the back of Domino's, and the three of us took to the skies. Below us, the Titanic's front tip was straight in the air, and the ship began completely sinking until the front tip was underwater. As soon as the titanic sank, rolling into the deep, the water seemed to darken to an eerie purple and the water began to churn. I couldn't see what else happened to the world as we crossed the border.

**.**

**How'd you like this chapter, hm? It's the longest chapter to date so...whoo-hoo! This chapter was in a real-life place, but next chapter will be a Disney world...one you are already familiar with. So, yeah...oh my gods, I don't know what else to say, so...see ya in the next one!**

**Oc: ****Robin Cale (Six)**** belongs to **_CaleMcManus21_


	12. I Need a Hero

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**I Need a Hero**

"I guess this is goodbye for now," Six said as he, Domino, Rika, and I walked down one of the many crystalized roads. Six smiled and held his hand out for me to shake it. "I'm going see other worlds and explore the mysteries surrounding them. What are you three going to do?"

"Travel around and live an amazing life together," Domino replied quickly, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer to him. Rika just rolled her eyes at us. "And hopefully help Kane learn how to use more magic. He's still got a lot to learn."

"That I do," I said with a smile, putting my hands behind my head. "Hopefully I can train in worlds that _don't_ get destroyed or have people dying in it." I took Six's hand and shook it, feeling the warmth of his hands touch mine. "Just a question…what happened to your back?" Six clutched his bare back, looking unsure of what to say. "Hey, you don't have to tell me." Six looked into my eyes and smiled. "I guess we'll see each other again?"

"I hope so," Six replied, giving me a thumbs-up. He put a hand over my heart and said, "Kane, you have a strong light like no other. Don't lose sight of it." A pinkish colored portal appeared behind him. "See ya later, Kane." He stepped backwards into the portal, and he and the pink portal disappeared.

I looked at each of the stars. For some reason I can't explain, they began…dimming. The light didn't seem as strong in my eyes any more. In fact, each ball of light began turning into other shapes, as if the light was dimming to show me what was inside of it. One world looked like a giant, grassy mountain with a golden palace on top, golden stone columns jutting up into the air above the world. "What's happening…I can see the worlds more clearly?"

"Your eyes have become more accustomed to the brightness of each individual world," Rika answered. Normally they're so bright that a normal person can't see beyond that light. But now you can because you're used to that light. I could see it perfectly as well."

"Same here," Domino replied. He followed my gaze upon that golden palace that I wouldn't stop staring at. "I guess that's the place we're headed." I slowly nodded. The three of us, now on our Gliders once more, sped towards the world that looked like a golden palace.

Once we entered the world, we were introduced to a beautiful sight. We were riding right above the clouds. The sky was a brilliant blue and the clouds below were pure white, looking like actual physical objects as opposed to normal clouds. Domino lowered our Glider so I could feel the cloud. Leaning downward I touched the cloud, and a chunk of soft, white silk-like cloud came off in my hand. Clutching it in my fist, it fell from in between my fingers as a shower of golden light. I smiled at the feeling of the warm, golden light as it passed between my fingers.

Looking ahead, peaking just over the clouds was the tip of a grassy green mountain. On the tip was what looked like a giant cube-shaped palace. The ground was completely square, columns lining all the sides and a roof being held up by the columns. All of it was golden.

I looked down, and saw that slightly below the clouds were other smaller buildings and structures circling the grassy mountain. The Gliders vanished beneath our feet and we each landed safely on the grass coating the hill. The clouds were but a few inches lower than us. We began scaling our way up the mountain, getting ever closer to the palace. And once we got close enough, I started to hear voices.

"How many times must I tell you that what you're doing is spreading the plague of darkness upon the mortals below!" a deep, gruff voice yelled out. Did he say _darkness_? We climbed onto the square ground of the palace. I put a finger over my mouth to keep Domino and Rika quiet, and the three of us hid behind a column. In the center of the palace, there were several golden thrones all arranged in a U-shape. At the base of the U was the one who spoke. He was a man with long and neat black hair and a black beard. He appeared to be wearing a suit and a red tie. He seemed about five feet taller than the average human.

Only one other throne was filled, right to the side of the other. He had short black hair and a black mustache. He was wearing a shirt that looked like something you'd wear on a vacation to the beach. He was wearing a necklace made of seashells. In one hand was a sea-green colored trident, and in the other was a glass of what looked like orange soda. He was around the same size as the other man.

The one who stood before the two of them was a tall, imposing and very muscular man with albino white skin, intense black eyes that seemed to glitter in the light of the golden palace and the sunlight, that were either the eyes of a genius or a madman. He sported shoulder-length black hair and was slightly shorter than the other two. He wore a black robe. He said, "And Zeus, how might I be spreading this 'plague'?" His voice had a creepy vibe to it that sent shivers down my spine.

"Hades, you know as well as I do," the bearded one known as Zeus replied. "Getting mortal women pregnant."

"Check," Hades said.

"Taking people's lives when it is unnecessary."

"Double check."

"Training people to use the dark powers that you possess."

"Ooh, three checks. Got yourself a world record, bro." Hades began clapping his hands. "Let me break it down for you—I don't care. Never have. Never will. Mind your own business, and I'll continue mine. Deal?" Zeus began to say something more, but the man on the side took over.

"Hades, go back to the Underworld where you belong," the man replied. "Or—"

"Or what, Seaweed-Breath?" Hades asked, stalking up to the man's throne with his hands behind his back. "Is the great Poseidon going to drown me in his everlasting sea? Maybe poke and prod at me with that trident of his? You're too weak to do anything to one such as I. Capiche?"

"I think I get it," Domino whispered into my ear. "Elijah Brunner always taught us about the other worlds out there, and what kind of mysteries, secrets, and lore they hold. These three are the Greek gods from the Greek Mythology…if I remember them correctly, there's Zeus, God of the Sky; Poseidon, God of the Sea and Storms; and Hades, God of the Underworld and Lord of the Dead. The big three brothers."

"So they exist?" I asked quietly.

"There are an infinite number of worlds," Rika replied. "Anything's possible."

"He won't have to finish you off—" Zeus said, holding a hand out in front of him. A single lightning bolt appeared in his hand, and he pointed it to Hades. Hades simply rolled his eyes as he turned his back to Zeus. "If I do first!"

He threw the lightning bolt at Hades, which sped towards the God of the Underworld at the speed of light. It collided with his back, sending a crackling sound echoing off the palace columns and shaking me down to my core. Without realizing it I dug my fingernails into Domino's shoulder from the intense shock. Hades whipped around quickly and jumped at Zeus, balls of blue fire appearing in each of his hands. He tossed the both of them at Zeus, but Poseidon intervened by jumping in the way and deflecting them with his trident.

"Nobody makes a fool out of me!" Hades screamed out. "NOBODY!" His hair seemed to spark with blue flames. His eyes widened a he shot fire from both of his hands. His flaming blue hair turned to a mix between red, orange, and yellow. His skin seemed to darken until it was a sickly gray, and his lips were as black as coal. "Don't underestimate me, brothers! There is not anything powerful enough to defeat someone who controls death!"

"How about a Keyblade!" Domino yelled, knocking Rika and I to the side as he dashed out from behind the column, running straight for Hades, Starlight in his hand.

Hades cocked his head to the side. "What the—?" Domino swung his Keyblade, the sharp edge of it cutting into Hades' side. Nothing but black powder escaped his wound. "What is that?" he asked with a smirk, rubbing his now pointed fingers as he stared down Domino's Keyblade. "And where can I get one?"

"Of course he'd just jump out like that," Rika said, rolling her eyes at Domino's stupidity. Under her feet appeared her Glider, and she darted forward at Hades as well, balls of darkness appearing in a circle around her. Each of them shot towards the Lord of the Dead, colliding with the man and causing him to back away. Her Glider vanished and Darksouls appeared in her hand, which she used to smack Hades across the face. Hades spiraled backwards, spinning on his heel as he tried to regain balance.

"Who are these two?" Poseidon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Intruders, that's what," Zeus replied, putting his hands together and cracking his knuckles. "But helpful intruders, nevertheless. Are they demigods?"

"Of course we are!" Domino shouted out, and Rika and I face-palmed. Back in Salem he declared himself a witch, and now a demigod? "The most powerful demigods you've ever seen!"

"Ha, don't make me laugh," Hades said, towering over Domino until he shrunk down to Domino's size. He put his arm on Domino's shoulder like an armrest. "Buddy, listen, it's great to play pretend. Really, it is. But, see, here's the thing. I'm the only god right now getting women pregnant since the Oath of the Gods, and I can say, you don't look anything like me."

"Oath of the Gods?" I asked, stepping out from behind the column and walking towards Rika and Domino.

"An Oath saying we shouldn't have any more kids with mortals for the next few hundred years," Poseidon answered. "To make sure a demigod doesn't rise up and try to be a god. Breaking the oath means dire consequences. And Hades here—" Hades waved at Poseidon to acknowledge him for calling out the God of Death's name. "—he's been creating more and more demigods for over a decade."

"Ah, you noticed," Hades said, putting a hand to his heart. "I'm touched, really. Sorry, but I've got bigger fish to fry. Don't wait for me, I'm not returning any time soon." He snapped his fingers and a portal of darkness appeared underneath him. "But hey, the five of you can spend some quality time together in my absence. Oh, yeah, what was that law? If any intruders enter the palace, they'd be sentenced to death?" He winked at the three of us. "Have fun, you guys." He sunk into the shadows below.

"I don't like that guy," I pouted as the portal of darkness vanished. "Uh…" I looked Zeus in the eyes, and he scowled at me. "Um, don't kill us. Please?"

The god almost stood up, but he slumped back in his seat in defeat. "You know, how about you three just leave? There's no use killing innocent mortals like you…how on Olympus _did_ you get here, though? It's shielded from all mortals' eyes."

"Where is here?" Domino and I asked simultaneously.

"Mount Olympus, home of the gods," Poseidon replied before Zeus could, the latter god sending an angry glare to his brother. "Those weapons you two used…they almost seemed to work better against Hades than Zeus and I's combined powers. What do you call them?"

"Keyblades," I said for them. "Created three years ago. They can unseal any locked barrier and can bring the many worlds together."

"They're also good at kicking butt," Domino replied with a chuckle, and I elbowed him in the side.

"You three," Zeus said, extending his arms out before him. "Gods like us cannot enter that accursed Underworld of his. Unless the three of you go down there and defeat Hades once and for all…I will obliterate you into dust." The hair on the back of my neck seemed to stand on end while all of the clouds became black. In a second they went back to white. "I will not ask how you three were able to arrive on Olympus. Just head down there and find the lair of Hades. You'll figure out how to enter the Underworld. The entrance is always noticeable. Do not leave this world until Hades is destroyed."

I suddenly felt the weight of gravity slamming against my shoulders, and a square tile of floor disappeared underneath Domino, Rika, and I. The three of us fell through the palace and landed on our faces on the grassy mountain below. I slowly stood up and brushed the dirt and grass off of my shirt and shorts. "I guess we have to find the Underworld now," Domino said, leading the way downward, Rika at his side and me trailing two feet behind them.

We started dashing downward quickly, passing through the clouds as they shimmered in gold light around us. "How in the world are you supposed to kill a god?" I asked Domino and Rika, but I didn't receive a response. It took _forever_, but our feet began stepping on hard ground. We were off of the mountain. Surrounding us was what looked like a town. Old looking houses and buildings were spread out, and a few townspeople were walking about.

"You want to know how to kill a god?" a quiet voice asked from the side of me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing to the side of me was a tall man with a red cloak that billowed behind him in a dramatic wind. His short hair was dark grey and spiked, and he seemed to have some light stubble on his chin. There was a large scar over the right half of his face and over his right eye, which was shut. His left eye was amber colored. "Determination…years of it. You have to be ruthless, but not completely overtaken by the hatred. Only one with strength of heart and strength of will, can truly kill a god."

"And you are?" Rika asked rudely.

"Auron," the man said, staring up at the sky. "The one you wish to battle, _Hades_…he's taken everything from me." He rubbed where his right eye was shut, and scowled. "This…and my precious sister. Do you three wish to fight alongside me and rid the world of this tyrant?"

"Yes," Domino answered quickly. "Are…you a demigod? Hades' child, perhaps?"

"Demigod?" Auron asked, holding his chin as if to think. "Now that's a title I haven't been called. No, I'm no demigod. I only wish to save my sister. If we go to the Underworld together, we may stand a chance against Hades. Be careful."

"Are we really going to trust someone we just met?" I asked, a little worried of who this 'Auron' could really be. Domino and Rika both nodded. "Okay then, Auron…where is the Underworld?"

"I know an entrance to the Valley of the Dead," Auron muttered, holding his hand out and conjuring a long, thick sword out of thin air. "Hades really needs to hide it better. The entrance…is everywhere." Everywhere? I arched an eyebrow. "Though you can open a doorway leading to the Underworld pretty much anywhere, you have to know what you are doing in order to do so. Observe." He dug his sword into the ground beneath him and cut a jagged line into the soil. The crack in the soil soon released a fog of darkness. Auron slammed his palm into the ground, and the crack opened wide enough for a human to jump through. "The Valley of the Dead awaits."

Domino took no time waiting and jumped headfirst into the crack in the ground. Rika jumped in after him. Auron motioned for me to do the same, and I hesitantly jumped in after them. Auron fell in after me. When we landed, all we saw was green. All four corners of the seemingly endless room were green, with strange white wisps floating up towards the green sky. The ground beneath us was made of rock. We were…on a road. In one direction it led downward to an exit. Ahead of us the road went upward and to an entrance to another room.

I walked to the edge of the road and looked down below…a large, green body of water was underneath this road of rock. I nearly jumped away as a white wisp flew in front of my face and began swirling around my body. "What the—?" I yelled out in shock. "What is this thing?"

"A spirit," Auron muttered quietly, swinging his sword towards his back as a swirling white wisp silently approached from behind him. The sword passed through the _spirit_ as if it weren't a physical being. "They're harmless…but the influence they have on mortals is strong. You can die if you aren't careful." He lunged forward as another spirit flew in front of my face. Swinging his sword, he cut through the wisp and made it disappear. As for the one swirling around me still, Auron had a hard time getting rid of it.

"Thunder!" I yelled. Out of my hands sparked white electricity, shocking the spirit and making it fade away completely. "How often have you been down here?"

"More times than I can count," Auron said, looking to the green sky above. "Hades needs to return something of mine… something valuable. So I've been here every day since then, challenging Hades but never succeeding in killing the bastard. You three…a godsend. You can help me defeat him and take what he's been keeping all this time."

A white wisp—much larger than the last—wrapped its wispy arms around Auron. Though it couldn't physically touch Auron, the spirit caused him to back away, passing harmlessly through the spirit, his heels reaching the edge of the road. He nearly stumbled backwards, but Domino was able to grab his hand and pull him away from the edge. "Thanks," Auron said before jumping into the air, lodging his sword in the throat of another spirit, causing it to vanish. "Head to the entrance of Hades' lair! I'll keep the spirits from interfering."

Domino and Rika instantly dashed off towards the doorway up ahead along the road. Rika looked back, shouting "Kane, hurry!"

I complied, rushing off towards Hades' lair just as Domino and Rika were doing. Looking back, I saw Auron slashing his sword through the air, but the number of spirits flying around him only increased. Domino and Rika reached the door, waiting a few seconds for me to arrive there as well. When I did, Domino put his hand on the doorknob, preparing to turn it.

"Look out!" Auron's voice yelled, just as the largest spirit so far—perhaps larger than the four of us combined—appeared right next to the door. Auron's sword came soaring through the dark air, passing by the three of us and impaling itself into the door, making the large white wisp vanish and the door shatter into splinters of wood and rock.

Auron ran up to us, taking his sword from the ground. Motioning his hand through the air, he commanded us to rush into Hades' chamber. Inside was barely lit up with candles lining the walls, each burning with a red flame. Once inside we saw the Lord of the Underworld himself, sitting atop a throne made of human bones. In his hand was a clear glass of red liquid. He wasn't the only one there, however. Standing in front of the god, his back to us, stood someone familiar.

"Please don't tell me…" I said in annoyance, automatically realizing who this white haired boy was.

Turning his back to Hades, the boy faced us. "Ah, Hades, these are the ones I warned you about."

"Who is that?" Auron asked, getting into a fighting stance with his sword pointing towards him.

"The name's Asher," the boy said, lifting his fedora up with a finger and looking straight into Domino's eyes. "Phoenix Asher. Call me the obliterator of light! The destroyer of darkness! That is who I am!" He raised both arms out in front of him, rings of artificial light appearing around his wrists. "Domino, surrender yourself over to me! Now gather under the name…of the Keyblade hunters!"

Snapping his fingers, seven men and six women appeared in a circle around Domino, Rika, Auron, and I. Domino scowled at Asher. This boy never seemed to quit this goal of killing Domino.

"You three again," Hades said, balling a fist. He released his fist when he looked at Auron. "Ah, and Hero-Boy has returned. Why am I not surprised?" He snapped his fingers, and out of the ground came human skeletons, all wearing Greek battle armor and carrying long swords or axes. There were at least twenty of them surrounding Hades' throne and three of them in front of the entrance to the lair. "Phoenix, I will do the honors of dragging that barefooted boy down into the Sea of Spirits if you help me take down the guy in red."

"Hades, I have to fight these three as well," Asher said in annoyance. "You get rid of Auron yourself with those skeletons of yours."

"Fair enough," Hades said, exploding into a tower of fire. "Oh, but hey, Asher…I will take Domino away from the living. But you must go as well." When the fire vanished, his hair was a burning red-orange, his skin and clothing were red as well. "It's high time all of you vanish…forever!"

The skeletons charged after the Keyblade Hunters. The Hunters each shot beams of light at the skeletons, shattering them into piles of bones. The bones connected as one again, and the skeletons continued to try and harm the Hunters.

"What do you think you are doing!?" Asher yelled out at Hades.

"Oh, you see, here's the thing—" Hades said, pointing a steady finger at Asher. "Down here, in the Underworld, I'm boss. Got it? Ever since you got here it's been nothing but pure, infuriating _bossiness_ escaping those lips of yours! _Kill Domino_ this, and _Make him into a spirit_, that! You mortals are all greedy little pests, aren't you?" While Hades wasn't watching the battle between the Hunters and the Skeletons, Auron lunged forward with his sword, slashing through every single Skeleton and watching them crumble to dust, permanently. "Oh?" Hades suddenly muttered, raising an eyebrow at Auron. "I've had about _enough_ of you! This rivalry has been between us for far too long. You've forced my hand. Goodbye." He snapped his fingers, and the rocky ceiling above them started shaking.

A large boulder fell through the ceiling above Auron. He tried to back away, but it was futile. Auron fell over his own feet, his arms and legs spread out. His left arm was crushed by the boulder. "Auron!" I yelled out, rushing to the fallen man who was silently cursing from all the pain he was experiencing. Before I could make it to Auron, one of the Hunters appeared in front of me and grabbed my throat, attempting to choke me.

"Kane!" Domino shouted out. I saw him try to jump at me, but Rika made her darkness swirl around him, halting him in his place as Rika lunged towards the Hunter, driving her Darksouls into the back of the Hunter that was strangling me. The Hunter crumpled to the ground, vanishing into artificial light.

Domino sighed once he saw I was alright, and he rushed to Auron to push the boulder off of his arm. After helping Auron up, he swung his hand as Starlight appeared, slashing through the body of a Hunter that was just lunging at the two of them. He vanished into artificial light.

Auron tucked his aching left arm away underneath his clothing, and he and Domino stood back to back as two more Hunters jumped at them. Both, a man and a woman, were impaled by Domino's and Auron's respective weapons. The remaining Hunters each vanished into portals of artificial light, causing Asher to yell out, "Cowards! They aren't that tough!"

"Kill me yourself then," Domino challenged, but Asher simply backed away. "That's what I thought."

"That's enough," Hades said, stepping towards us slowly. His red fire vanished. His hair was now a simple blue flame. His eyes were completely yellow except for his black pupils. He possessed very sharp teeth and unnatural black lips. His face was quite long and thin, with his chin jutting out abruptly. His fingers were long, thin, and clawed. He wore what appeared to be a dark grey shirt underneath a black toga, the latter of which seems to be held up by a small skull pin on his right shoulder. His feet weren't visible due to the length of his robes. He held his hands out in front of him to stare at his palms. "My true form…I like it."

"Kinda hideous, if you ask me!" Rika yelled at the god.

"Nobody cares about your opinions, girl," the Lord of the Dead cackled, stepping towards the entrance to his lair. Snapping his fingers, each of the candles lining every inch of the walls now lit with a black flame. The Underworld had a special power to it. I felt every ounce of my being slipping away. My skin began to gray, to wrinkle up. I felt tired…exhausted. I felt my eyes drooping. "Ah, wouldja look at that. The power and _death_ surrounding this place is affecting you, Kane, most of all. You must be the one to die."

"Nobody's dying, Hades!" Auron yelled out, jumping at Hades with his sword outstretched. Hades grabbed the sword with both of his hands and stopped Auron in his tracks. Auron yanked his sword away from the god and stared the man down. "You'd have to go through me."

"Listen, Wannabe-Hero," Hades said, licking his lips. "Down here, heroes are zeroes. 'Nuff said. Though I guess, if you wanted, you could fight me. But neither you nor any of your pitiful friends can defeat me in my own turf. That's just the way things are…what did you say your name was again?"

"You have something precious to me," Auron said, holding his hand out as if expecting Hades to hand something to him. "I'd like it back."

"Ah, yes, the girl," Hades smiled. "The two of you were only together for like what? Two weeks? Three? And big bad Lord of the Underworld here decided to take her from you. I could show her to you, if you'd like. But believe me, you wouldn't wanna know the truth behind her. You think you remember her but in actuality, you don't. Before the two of you met in this world that little bit ago…you two had never seen each other before then. She's playing you like a sitar."

"What are you _talking_ about!?" Auron shouted at the god. "I'd known her my whole life. We've been living in this world for three years before you snatched her from me! What game are you playing at, Hades?"

"Game? What game? All I speak is the truth," Hades laughed, dusting off his toga. "Hey, I have a deal to offer."

"I'm listening," Auron said, making his sword vanish.

Hades smiled ear to ear. "Good boy. If you allow your soul to be mine for all eternity, then I will release your sister and she'll live the perfect life. No strings attached. She'll be free as a bird. Oh, and another thing. When your soul is drifting here in the Underworld, you're memories of her will be gone. Forever. Now, will you keep the memories of her and have her stay in the Underworld as a spirit? Or will you give up those precious memories to release her from my clutches? You got one minute, kid."

"I'd be a tad worried about what he said before, Auron," I said, trying to reason with the man. "What exactly did he mean by saying that you and your sister hadn't known each other since a few weeks ago?"

"Does that matter?" Auron asked, holding a hand out in front of him and staring into his palm. "I have to see my sister on the way down. But when she comes back up, back to the living… I'll have forgotten all about her. That's a price I have to pay, Kane."

"Am I being ignored!?" Asher yelled after a _long_ few minutes of silence from him. "Hades, just take Domino's soul already!" Asher ran straight for Hades. Hades looked at Asher as if he were a measly insect, and flicked the white-haired boy in the nose, causing him to fly back into the wall next to the lair entrance. "Domino, I'll find my way to you again and kill you. Just you wait and see!" In a flash of white, Asher vanished.

"Now, where were we? Oh, that's right? We were making a deal." He held his hand out for Auron to take. Auron was a little hesitant. I mean, who wouldn't be? He was basically making a deal to the Devil. But Auron grasped Hades' hand, and blue fire surrounded his and Hades' wrists. Auron let go of Hades' hand. A large hole opened up in the ground between Auron and Hades, nothing but green water and the wisps of white below. Fog made of darkness tried swirling from the depths. "Jump in…I promise, you'll see your sister. Briefly. Now go, time's a-wasting."

Auron put his toes over the chasm below and looked to Rika, Domino, and I. "My sister has to survive. She has to. I'm not taking any other route to getting her back now. This may be my only chance. You three…we'll never see each other again. But don't forget about me. And don't think about making a deal with Hades to bring me back. I doubt he'd allow that. Bye…thanks for helping me, friends." He jumped into the chasm headfirst, vanishing beyond the green sea of souls.

Black flames blasted from the chasm, and once they vanished, a small figure jumped out of the hole, landing in front of Hades as the chasm closed up. She was wearing a black and white cloak that reached her ankles, the hood over her head to hide her face. She was around four feet tall, so she was most likely young. Black hair fell from the hood to her waist.

"Auron's sister?" I guessed.

"Ah, you're free at last," Hades said, admiring the girl before him. "Just as we planned."

"What?" Domino and I asked at once.

The girl chuckled and said in a mesmerizing voice, "Auron looked so surprised to see me on his way down. Even as his memories of me faded, which didn't exist in the first place, he started remembering bits and pieces of who I _really_ am. Our plan to trap him in there worked like a charm."

"What are you talking about!?" I yelled out, anger beginning to overflow my very heart.

Hades chuckled. "For three years, Auron was here on a stupid quest to defeat me and become a hero. Everyone had always seen him as a monster. He was unloved by many. Defeating me and becoming a hero was his only chance to redeem himself. Only a few weeks ago, this girl before me appeared and had a plan to get rid of Auron. I created false memories within Auron's mind…memories of this girl. In his mind, this dark, twisted individual became his sister. And then she willingly jumped into the Sea of Souls where Auron would soon become enraged and try to kill me, doing anything he could to save her. And thus I tricked him into trading his soul for hers. Even though I'm not really sure this girl was worth the trouble."

"You're too kind, Lord Hades," the girl said, putting a hand on her hip. Her voice sounded rather young…maybe ten or eleven years old.

"Who are you then!?" I yelled out.

"The name isn't important," the girl said, looking towards the ceiling. "You know what is important? Getting out of here. That sea thing I was in reeked of death…not that I'm complaining. The smell soothed me. But three weeks of it is kinda not the best thing in the world." She held a hand out in front of her. She looked to Domino and chuckled. "Ah, Domino. I must give much appreciation to you for getting us out of Utopia." _Utopia_!?

"You're one of the dark Keybearers," Domino said, putting two and two together. "And…you're welcome?"

The girl clutched a fist, and darkness swirled around her. She sunk into the darkness, laughing with pure evilness radiating off of her voice. When she was completely gone, Hades turned his back to us. "One soul is good enough for one day," he said, waving his hand through the air. "I would like to take yours as well, but I'm afraid I'm all tuckered out. Comes with the job. Get out of my palace…now!"

He pointed to the ceiling, and a golden portal appeared in the center. Almost immediately, Domino, Rika, and I flew into the portal unwillingly. I closed my eyes. Suddenly I felt…refreshed. I went from feeling the cold, dread of death to feeling a powerful, _sunny_ radiation. When my eyes opened, I was on Olympus. Domino and Rika stood to either side of me. Standing before us and in front of their thrones were Zeus and Poseidon.

"You have not finished Hades off," Zeus grumbled. "I would take your meaningless life but…we've received word that you three must live. There is no undoing ancient prophecies. The three of you are not meant to die…yet."

Poseidon cleared his throat and said, "You three must leave now."

"Not yet!" a frantic voice yelled, and someone fell from the sky. He landed right in front of Domino. He had short, curly blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a white toga, and from his sandals sprouted two white wings that looked like they just stopped flapping. "Hello, Domino!" He took Domino's hands in his and shook them violently. Letting go of Domino he said, "I'm Hermes, the messenger god, at your service! I found this—" He dug in a pocket in his toga, taking out a white envelope closed with a smiley-face sticker. "—a letter addressed to you, floating around in-between worlds!"

"In-between worlds?" Domino asked, taking the envelope and seeing his name on the front written in cursive. There was no address or return-address. "Who could have sent this?" He peeled off the sticker and opened the envelope, taking out a sheet of regular paper from inside. Rika and I both looked over his shoulders to read the letter, which read:

_Dear Domino,_

_I know this may come as a shock, but I've finally learned that you're alive and well and best of all free from Utopia! It's been a little more than three years since we've seen each other, yet I hadn't been able to forget how your voice sounded or how your face looked. I've gotten a Keyblade of my own and am on my own little journey across the world, which is how I received word on your current status. The world I'm at right now is Traverse Town, a quaint little town with not many people, but from the night sky you can see thousands of stars…the worlds out there. I'm probably looking at the world you're at right now. Wouldn't that be neat? Anyway, come meet me in Traverse Town. You should be able to sense what world that is by using this letter. I hope we get to see one another once again!_

_From your beautiful sister, _

_Diantha_

It took me a second to process that. I blinked twice before shouting, "You're sister!?"

"Looks like the three of you have a long journey ahead of you," Zeus said, thunder sparking in his beard. "Leave before I _try_ to kill you."

Without waiting, Domino and Rika conjured their Gliders, and I as always rode on the back of Domino's, wrapping my arms around Domino's waist to hold on. As we headed towards space, I said, "You're sister…in Traverse Town?"

"I'm as confused as you," Domino whispered, but I still heard him. "My memories of her were all but forgotten up until now. We need to see her in Traverse Town. It's been too long." And we crossed the border.

.

**How did you like this chapter? So Auron's sister...was just a fake. Then who is she? We'll see her in the future, I'm sure. She's an original character...someone else's, I might add. Now...Domino's sister shall be revealed in the next chapter. Stay tuned for more!**


	13. Destati

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Destati**

We landed on the crystalized road in between the worlds. Domino clutched the letter from his sister in his hand, looking out towards the endless sky as if he were deep in thought. I saw a single tear trickle down his cheek, and he hurriedly wiped it away. He held the hand with the paper in it in front of him, and the letter vanished into a swirling vortex of darkness. Rika eyed Domino suspiciously, "You never told us you had a sister. What's she like?"

"I also had three brothers, two uncles and two aunts, a grandfather, a grandmother, and a nanny who all lived with my parents and I, back in Sanctuary, my homeworld," Domino said, tears sparkling in his eyes. "My sister, Diantha…she was so sweet, and caring. She's three minutes older than me…so mature and always looking out for me. She put up a great deal of a fight when my parents were ready to take me to Utopia to seal the barrier. They had to put her on house arrest so she wouldn't attempt to follow us. To think she's got a Keyblade of her own now…"

"Three minutes older?" I asked. "So she's your twin? You have a twin?"

"I guess you could say that," Domino replied, cracking his knuckles. My family's a little odd…almost always two or more of them are born in the same day. The two of my uncles were born on the same day as my father. They were triplets. Same with my two aunts and my mother…triplets as well. The two uncles married the two aunts, and my father and mother married of course. My younger brothers are also twins. And then there's me and my sister."

"You do have a weird family," Rika chuckled silently. "Guess what? I _don't _have a family. Unless you count the other girls who were adopted alongside me and Merlin who adopted us. That's all the family I've got." Domino looked to Rika apologetically, but Rika simply shook her head and said, "None of that is needed. I don't mind your boasting about your large family. I'm kinda intrigued to meet this twin of yours."

"Same," I replied. Domino wiped his tears and smiled a toothy grin. He held his hand out before him and said, "I can smell where this letter came from…it's near. Right—" He pointed in random direction. "—there."

The world he pointed at was a tad dark. What looked like a building jutted out. Houses littered the world. I could see a sign that read: _Hotel_. "That's Traverse Town?" Rika asked. "It's kind of dark and gloomy, isn't it? I'll be getting there first!" creating her Glider beneath her feet, she shot towards the world.

I jumped into the air, and below Domino and I appeared his Glider. My feet landed on the Glider, and the two of us blasted off towards the world, a few yards behind Rika. We then entered the world, heading downward to the ground. The three of us landed, the Gliders vanishing beneath our feet. In front of us was a building that looked kinda like a store. I turned around to see a small staircase leading only a few feet downward to a lower section of the ground.

Several yards away from the staircase was a giant wall with a door in the center. The door was shut, and whatever loomed outside was a mystery. "Stay away!" yelled a voice, and a small girl that looked about six years old ran passed us, being chased by two mysterious creatures.

Their bodies were completely black, save for their glowing yellow orb-shaped eyes. They were short, barely over two feet tall, with two antennae jutting from their heads. They swung their clawed hands towards the little girl as they chased her towards the store. The girl opened the door and closed it behind her, the creatures being stopped at the door.

"What are those things?" Rika asked.

_My thoughts exactly._ Something about those dark creatures seemed to implant fear into my heart. MY body began to shake. What were these creatures? Domino took no time in slashing his Starlight at them. After slashing through their dark bodies two or three times, they vanished into liquid darkness before Domino. Their dark blood hit the ground. Domino bent over and ran his fingers along the ground, lifting his hand up to inspect the black liquid staining his fingers. He sniffed them closely and said, "It's darkness. The darkness became animate in the form of those creatures. But how were they created?"

"My thoughts exactly," a female voice said as the door to the store opened up. Standing in the doorway was the little girl, clutching the leg of a taller girl who wasn't much taller than Domino. Her hair was long and purple, curling at the bottom and falling over her shoulders. Her eyes were a startling silver…the same color as Domino's. The family resemblance was uncanny. However, that's where the resemblances ended. Her skin was a bit tanner than Domino's, and her eyebrows were thinner, her lips pinker. She wore a white t-shirt that revealed her belly, a furry, pink, sleeveless jacket over her white shirt. Her jean shorts went above her knees. She was barefoot…just like Domino "I see you three just rolled into town?"

Domino looked speechless. Rika smirked and said, "So this is your famous sister we've hardly heard about. Did they not invent shoes where you people are from?"

"Oh, my boots are in the Accessory Shop," the girl said, pointing to the store behind her with her thumb. "Anyway, my name is Diantha. I'm Domino's sister if you couldn't figure that out. This girl to the side of me is Desiree. Head on inside so the grown-ups can talk." Desiree nodded her head and rushed into the store again. Diantha stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "Hello, Domino."

Domino remained speechless. Finally he said, "You…you're here. I can't believe it, you're actually here!" He rushed passed me and Rika, nearly knocking me over, and grabbed Diantha's hands in his, shaking them. She shook his hands as well. The two jumped into the air and twirled in midair, falling to the ground back-to-back. Domino lifted his left foot from the ground, and Diantha did the same with her right foot. They pressed their feet against one another's, and then turned to face one another and gave each other a high five. "It really is you!"

"What the hell was that!?" Rika asked in amusement, trying to hold back her laughter.

"It's how we greeted each other every day back in our homeworld," Diantha said with a smile. "We were really close back then. It's good to see you again, Brother."

"Likewise," Domino replied, giving Diantha a tight hug and then releasing her. "In that letter, you mentioned you obtained a Keyblade?"

"Yes," Diantha replied, holding out her hand as light formed in her palm. When the light vanished, a Keyblade was in her hand. The Keyblade was purple with what looked like a leafy design all along the sides of it. The teeth of the blade were designed to look like a pink rose. The handle was a yellow and silvery color. "My _Divine Rose_." Hanging from the bottom end of the Keyblade was a Keychain that, at the end, was shaped like a rose. "The Keyblade you hold, Domino—" Domino made his Starlight appear again. "—that is the original form of your Keyblade. But if you would apply a keychain to it, it could change its shape. Mine used to look different…but after applying a keychain to it, it looks a lot stronger and better!"

"I think the Starlight Keyblade is perfect as it is," Domino said, holding his Key before him, Starlight vanishing into darkness. The Divine Rose vanished into light. "Anyway, Diantha, I'd like you to meet two of my friends. There's R—"

"Rika," Rika finished, cutting Domino off.

Domino continued with a little annoyance, "And K—"

"Kane," I replied, laughing when Domino shot me an agitated look. "So, Diantha…any embarrassing stories you'd like to tell us about Domino when the two of you were kids?"

"Oh come on, Kane!" Domino yelled in annoyance.

"Well," Diantha said, rubbing the back of her head while she tried to remember. "On his seventh birthday he hated the taste of his chocolate cake so he tossed it to the ground and stepped on the cake. He walked away from it and slipped, falling next to the sink and causing a bunch of dirty dishes to fall all around him and on him! He smelled like chocolate and other foods for a week!"

"Okay, please stop," Domino said, covering his eyes with his hand, probably wishing for us to stop talking.

"Oh, and he tried to ask out this girl when he was twelve," Diantha said on the verge of laughter.

"Don't you dare," Domino growled.

Diantha began giggling as she said, "The thing is, the girl he was going to ask out was actually just a _guy_ with long hair." Diantha bent over and couldn't control her laughter. Domino crossed his arms and looked away, utterly embarrassed at the stories his twin was telling us. Rika laughed at Domino's stupidity when he tried to cover Diantha's mouth with both of his hands. "Okay, okay, I'm only trying to make friends with them."

"And it worked," I said, pulling Domino off of his sister. "So…please tell us. What _was_ that creature?"

"I call it a Shadow," Diantha replied, scratching the back of her head. "They just recently started appearing around the border of this world and even within Traverse Town. I'm trying to figure out where they're coming from. I haven't seen them in any other world _but_ Traverse Town. Maybe I can explain more. Come inside for a glass of lemonade or any other drink of your choosing." She opened the door, and Domino, Rika, and I walked in after her, closing the door behind us.

The only ones inside besides the four of us were the little girl named Desiree, a man behind the store's only desk, and some kind of _creature_.

The girl had short blonde hair that was braided into a ponytail. She wore a white gown that was larger than her, falling onto the floor and trailing behind her. The man behind the desk was a tall, skinny figure with a white lab coat that was long and went below his ankles. He had no facial hair. His black hair was kind of long and scraggly, falling onto his shoulders. His eyes were emerald green and behind small, circular glasses.

The creature was the strangest of all…a short, pudgy pink body with a rounded head and a red pompom balancing off of a black antennae sticking out of its head. Its arms and legs were short with no fingers or toes. Its nose was big and as red as the pompom hanging over his head. On its back were purple bat wings. Its eyes appeared shut.

"What _is _that?" Domino asked, holding a finger out, ready to poke the creature in its head.

"It's a Moogle," the man behind the desk said in a high pitched voice. "Not much is known about these little guys… there are many of them here in Traverse Town. This one happens to be my partner. He's been by my side for twenty-four years."

"He doesn't look that old," I replied, staring at the _Moogle_. It sure was an interesting creature, alright.

"From what I can tell," the man said, putting a hand under his chin. "Moogles can live forever if they're healthy enough."

"Does he have a name?" Rika asked, poking the back of the Moogle's head.

The Moogle looked up at Rika as if studying her face, and then said in a high voice, "My name is of no importance." Rika backed away as if not expecting it to talk.

"My name is Doctor Robert Julius," the man said, stepping out from behind the desk. "I'm a scientist studying the Moogle folk as well as keeping a watchful eye out for those Shadow creatures. The girl in white is my neice, Desiree. She was dropped off here as an infant because her family didn't have enough money to support her. And I see you've been acquainted with Diantha."

"Interesting group you've got here," Rika said, continuously poking the back of the Moogle's head.

"So this is the famous Domino I never hear the end of," Dr. Julius said, holding a hand out to Domino. Domino took it and the two shook hands. "Hello, Domino. Wow, the resemblance between the two of you is uncanny." _Right?_ Almost as soon as Julius finished his sentence, four Shadows suddenly rose from the dark corners of the room and surrounded him. "What the—"

"They found their way in," Diantha said, making Divine Rose appear in her hand. Domino and Rika summoned Starlight and Darksouls, respectively. Desiree jumped off of the couch and ran behind me, clutching my leg in fear.

"It's going to be alright," I whispered to the girl, as she dug her nails into my leg. "Let's leave them to fight the Shadows." I turned towards the door, but in front of it was another creature. It was fairly more humanoid than the Shadow, and much taller. Its antennae were jagged like bolts of lightning. Its glowing yellow eyes were smaller and more like a human's. Its arms and legs were longer. "What is that?"

"Neoshadow," Diantha said right before she slammed her Key into the face of a Shadow in front of her. Suddenly a Neoshadow appeared right behind Diantha. It was too late to stop the monster.

It swung its claws at Diantha from behind right as I yelled, "LOOK OUT!" Diantha twisted her head around right before the Neoshadow's claws scraped across her face. Before that chance came, a giant beam of light shot through the ceiling, shattering the ceiling into splinters of wood as the light slammed down on Diantha. Each of the remaining Shadows and Neoshadows were obliterated into showers of light. The light continued to swirl around Diantha, causing Domino and Julius to fall to the ground and the Moogle to fly into the door. Desiree hid behind me, wrapping her arms around my legs.

"Diantha!" Domino yelled out. "What's happening!?" Diantha rose a few feet in the air, her eyes closed shut and her hair flowing about behind her. Her feet landed softly on the ground, and her eyes opened. She had no more pupils, and the color of her eyes was a sparkling white. "Whoa…what is happening?"

"What the hell is with that bright light!?" Rika shouted, the light roaring over the sound of her voice. She shielded her eyes. I couldn't even take the light either. Suddenly, in my eyes, my vision adjusted to the light. I saw Diantha much clearly now. She looked like a goddess from where I was standing. The light seemed to reflect and glow brightly off of her purple hair. "What _is_ she!?"

For some reason, this all seemed familiar. The light, the glowing eyes, the whole thing. Before I could say anymore, Domino yelled out, "You…unhand my sister, Juiz!" _Juiz!?_ I tried to wrack my brain to remember that name, when I remembered her all at once. She was a witch that helped us battle the witch Abigail in the first world we visited, Salem. Juiz had possessed Tara back then, which ultimately led to Domino accidentally fatally wounding her. Seeing Juiz take control of his sister must've been scaring him. If he wasn't careful, he could end up harming Diantha. Was this really the Juiz that we had met before?

"Juiz?" Rika asked, confused.

Diantha raised her hand and began speaking, her voice and a deeper, inner voice speaking at once. "I have come here to purge the darkness in this world." Then where was she when we fought _Hades_!? "And the main source of the darkness here is not the Heartless." _Heartless_? Was she talking about those black shadowy creatures? "It is you." She pointed to Domino. "Your darkness shall be purged, child."

"You _are_ Juiz!" I yelled at her. "Weren't you one of the good guys? You can't destroy Domino. I won't let you!"

"In Salem I was known as Juiz," the godly woman said before us. "My true name is Destati, and I am no witch. I am the Goddess of the Heart, one who holds dominion over the light. I control prophecies; I control fate. I lead ones such as you to their ultimate destiny."

"Destati…" Julius muttered before standing up. "It's an Italian word, meaning _Wake _up, _Awake,_ or _Awaken_. What are you…doing here?"

"I must purge Domino's eternal darkness," the goddess said, holding Diantha's arms out in front of her. In her left hand appeared a burning white light which shot towards Domino. Fear welled up in my throat. I was unable to speak. A light as bright as Destati's would incinerate Domino. But if I didn't have darkness within me…what would happen? I took the risk. I jumped in front of the beam of light. I was bathed in the warm glow of Destati's light. Instead of feeling a burning hotness, I felt a soothing, calm, shower of light. "You fool!" I opened my eyes…and all I saw was a pitch blackness.

I felt water surrounding my whole body. It was a warm, soothing water. It made my silvery hair flow behind me. I felt myself falling, and as I did, glowing blue bubbles trailed behind my feet, which were facing upwards. I fell slowly headfirst into the dark unknown. I saw a circle of light below. As I neared it, I saw a large picture of me on its glowing surface. The entire circular platform looked to be stained glass, forming a large picture of me with both my arms out on either side of me and my eyes closed shut. Lightning sparked in my picture's hair and rings of fire circled around my arms. A large wave was behind me, the base of the wave frozen in ice.

As I fell closer to the platform, I saw small circles on the bottom left and right corners. On the left, within the two circles were Kale and Ibiki Kamikaze, respectively. On the right were Tara and Ty Skye. On the top right corner, standing behind the picture of me was Domino, and on the right were small circles with the faces of Rika and Xena in them. The faces in each of the circles had their eyes open with determination, as if waiting for something. The picture of Domino behind the one of me had his eyes shut. Faded out behind each image was a background that looked like a deserted wasteland, dull Keyblades jutting out from the sandy soil.

I readjusted the way I fell, my feet pointing downwards now, and my feet softly tapped against the surface of the circular platform. As soon as I stood on it, the feeling of the water around me vanished. I felt a calm, cool wind sweep past my face that swept the bangs out of my eyes.

**"****Your heart is filled with a radiance that shines as brightly as the sun." **_Who's there_? I tried to speak, but no sound came out. The voice spoke in my head…it was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman. It spoke with _power_ in its voice, echoing off of the walls of my mind. But somehow I knew, it was Destati speaking. **"****Beware, for the darkness is a force to be reckoned with. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. And yet you haven't let your shadow take control. Don't let the darkness take you like it has Domino."**

_Where am I!?_ I wanted to yell at Destati, but again, I was unable to speak.

**"****You hold no Key, and yet you still have a powerful weapon at your disposal." **_Oh yeah? What would that be?_ **"****Your heart is your weapon. Your friends are your power. They keep your light burning strong."** My heart…was my weapon? My friends…my power? The voice spoke to me so cryptically, yet in the back of my mind I knew exactly what she was saying to me. Even without a Keyblade, I was able to wield unimaginable strength…strength controlled my my heart and the ties I had with my friends.

I looked at each of the faces on the platform I stood on. Tara, though gone, still resided within my heart. Kale and I may have parted ways, but he was still on my mind every passing day. Ibiki, though he was out to kill Domino and I, was still once my guardian and my _father_. Ty was in another family, and I hadn't seen him in a while now, but we were still close within my heart. Xena, whom I had only known and seen for a day, was close to my heart. I felt a strong connection to her. Rika and at last, Domino, were traveling with me. I didn't think I could be friends with Rika, but she calmed Domino like no other when he was angered. And Domino…he had always been there for me, no matter what. We love each other as much as any friends could.

They were my power. They were what…made me strong.

**"****Now choose…which side do you wish to fight on? The Guardians of Light? Or the Seekers of Darkness? Take your pick."**

I had never really thought about it. I had just gone with the flow…I travel with Domino even if he was on the side of the darkness. Did that mean I was also a member of these _Seekers of Darkness_? Or could I fight for the light which was a far more forgiving force to stay on? Or…was the light even that forgiving? Destati is willing to kill a person, Domino, because he used the forces of darkness at his disposal. Which side…was the wrong one?

_I don't know,_ I thought to myself, hoping Destati could hear my thoughts. _In my book of prophecy it already says someone who holds no Key shall fight the _Dark Lord_. Does that mean me…and Domino? If that's the case, then I can't really choose. Destiny is controlling all of this._

**"****Though destiny is indeed stronger than any force, people such as you still have the power to change their fate. Now which do you choose? The light or the dark?"**

"The…" I muttered, my voice returning. "The light." I knew I would say that. Yet it didn't feel like _I _said that at all. It felt like my subconscious took over at that moment to say it. Destiny was forcing me to choose the light, the side that Domino was against. Or was it me? It was hard to wrap my brain around this. "Destati…where is this place?"

**"****I should think it's obvious. We are in your heart, Kane Carter. This is where your destiny to serve the light begins. This is where it all starts. No force can stop the battle between light and dark. It is destined to happen, so it must. I am simply pushing you towards that goal. Fight Domino and take his life. Only then can this war be won by the light."**

After she said that, words flashed through my mind in Destati's voice.

**Seven Defenders of Light  
Thirteen Warriors from the Darkness  
Twenty Blades made to unlock one door  
The Key to the Door  
The Door to Kingdom Hearts  
A new War to decide its Fate  
The****χ****-blade shall be forged yet again  
Now it will be complete  
The Power of the Foretellers will decide its Alliance  
To be filled with Darkness  
Or to be guided by the Light  
Old wounds will be Healed  
Only one victor will come  
Many Worlds will act as one, together**

The platform below me vanished into a shower of light, and I felt myself falling down as if bricks were attached to my feet. When I landed on hard ground, my eyes opened and I saw that I was back inside the _Accessory Shop_. Julius was holding Desiree next to the door of the shop, shielding her from Destati. The Moogle stood to the side of them. Rika stood with her Keyblade pointing at Destati, and Domino was at my side shaking me from my sleep. Sleep? I felt as if I had just woken up, but I remained standing. Destati's light had vanished, but her eyes still radiated with power as she stared at me.

"What did you do to Kane?" Domino asked loudly. I blinked several times and shook Domino's hands off of me. "You're awake..."

"I showed him his destiny," Destati said as she stared at me with those mesmerizing white eyes, her voice still joined with Diantha's. "The two of your destinies are intertwined with this great prophecy. A storm is brewing. And the two of you are smack in the middle of it."

"What does the prophecy say about me?" Rika pouted.

Destati scoffed and said, "Though no words in the prophecy speak of one such as yourself, it does allude to many of Domino's followers. They are known as the Seeker of Darkness. A group of thirteen powerful darkness users from Utopia who are gathering the darkness users of the many worlds and banding them together to start a war with the light. You may be within his group as well."

"I don't care about any prophecies, or any of this," Domino said, staring into her glowing eyes. "All I want is you to release my sister…possess someone else. _Not_ her."

"She's a worthy sacrifice for my cause," Destati said, no emotion in her voice. That comment made Domino jump out of his skin. "I promise that when this war is over, I will revive her and she'll be at peace. As with all of the other casualties along the way. All of the light users will be revived as well. Even your precious Tara may see the light of day again." That nearly tugged at my heartstrings. "But anyone who possesses the darkness will stay in the eternal abyss of death forever. There is no denying that destiny."

"You just watch!" Domino shouted. "I'll win this war then! I will make sure that everyone knows what power is! I'll finish off you _and _those pesky Keyblade Hunters as well! Just watch me, Destati."

"Did someone mention me?" a voice asked from outside the door. I face-palmed, already expecting this lunatic to show up. Julius and Desiree moved to the side as the door opened, and poking his head through the door was Asher. "Phoenix Asher, at your service. They call me the obliterator of light and the destroyer of darkness. Now gather under the…what are you doing!?" A beam of darkness shot from Domino's hand and a beam of light from Destati's. Asher backed out of the doorway as the two beams collided, hitting the door yet causing no damage to it. "I'll be back, then!" I heard a thumping outside. Did Asher trip over? Oh well.

"Where were we?" Domino asked, annoyed.

"My light is so strong—" Destati said, holding out her hand before her. "—that it's burning up this girl's insides. She'll be my vessel until this body is worn out."

"So people are just pawns to you!?" I yelled at her. "You think you can just possess someone, and then toss them aside, all in your quest for the destruction of the darkness!? You're a monster, Destati!"

"Call me what you will," Destati said, light swirling around her. "But I'm not the real monster…Domino is. He kills for his own selfish vendetta and chooses darkness over the light. _I_ on the other hand purge the darkness. I kill light users either in the crossfire or have them as my vessel, but I promise to bring them back once this is all over. Which one of us is the greater evil, Kane? Think on it. I will take my leave now." In a flurry of light, Diantha's body disappeared, vanishing into pure, warm light. Destati was gone with the body of Domino's sister.

Domino fell to his knees. "How could this happen…?"

The door opened, and in limped Asher, holding his arms in front of him as if to protect himself. "Oh, she's gone. Uh…I kinda fell and twisted my ankle on the way out."

"Come here, I'll fix you up," Julius said to Asher, taking the boy by the wrist and walking him to the couch in the corner, where Asher laid down. "So…she's gone then?"

Domino pounded his fist into the ground in anger, and no amount of darkness from Rika calmed my friend down. This journey was just full of ups and downs. Could we ever catch a break? I sat down, thinking about what Destati said in my really vivid dream. What were we to do now? Did I really have to fight Domino…to the death? I couldn't do that…could I? I trembled at the thought.

Desiree talked to Asher kindly to see if he was alright, and he responded with "Never better!" The Moogle rose from the ground with his bat wings and landed atop the girl's shoulder. Julius was looking for some bandages to wrap around Asher's foot. Domino sulked in the corner of the room. All I could do was fall onto my back, trying to relax.

Who was I kidding? I couldn't relax. Not now. Not with this prophecy, the Keyblade Hunters, the oncoming war or Destati's quest for the purging of all darkness.

I drifted off to sleep.

**.**

**And so begins the arc in Traverse Town. When will we see Destati again? Maybe not next chapter, but surely in the future. Also, her name is inspired by the music piece by Yoko Shimomura that plays in the Kingdom hearts series.  
Fun fact about the music: it's considered a cursed song. Whenever they were practicing composing the song, bad things always happened like half of the building's electricity going out as they composed it. That is why after Kingdom Hearts I and the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II they rarely ever use the music again in the series. I got this info from the khwiki . net. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	14. Counting Stars

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. I'd just like to say, thanks for all the support and helpful reviews for this story…this is my most successful one yet. If you're not really familiar with my work, please feel free to go ahead and read some of my other stories and one-shots. Maybe it's about time I started interacting with my audience a bit. So I'll ask you a few questions: **

**What is your favorite part about the Kingdom Hearts series? Mine is the storyline and the characters, the amazing graphics and the gameplay…come to think of it, I'm in love with everything about Kingdom Hearts. Has anyone gotten Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD ReMix? I've gotten it a while back and am in the World that Never Was in KHII (I have nothing bad to say about this game). Lastly, how do you like Domino Effect? It's a tad different from what I normally do since I'm rarely putting in characters from the already existing series. If you have anything to say to help me out, or if you feel any changes should be made, let me know. (Just because I'm asking this of you does NOT mean I'll follow through with your suggestions. **

**Now, if you want to send in an OC for my story if you haven't already, please feel free to lend me one. If you already did, if you'd like you can make another. I'm running out of dark users for this story so I'm mostly going to be looking for them. Anyway, I've made this author's note long enough. Now, let's continue to the story.**

**.**

**Counting Stars**

Everyone has those really weird dreams that start off perfectly normal but then spiral out of control until nothing makes sense anymore. Most people would forget about those kinds of dreams unless one particular part in it sticks out among the rest. However, with my identic memory there wasn't a detail I couldn't remember. It felt so realistic. There was a sun shining in my face, a calm wind sweeping through my hair and a rush of cool water flowing in between my toes. I opened my eyes and saw where I was…right next to the Lake of Destiny.

My fingers were intertwined with the warm fingers of none other than Tara Skye. The two of us walked along the edge of the lake, wading through the water as we talked. I assumed we were talking. Her mouth was moving and so was mine, but no words escaped our lips. The only things I could hear were the chirping of the birds overhead and the lapping of the waves against the grassy shore. The wind, though definitely there, was completely silent.

"It's coming," Tara suddenly said, breaking the calm silence as our hands let go of one another. "A dark, relentlessly ruthless evil. Soon to eclipse all worlds into a chasm of sadness and despair." I tried to ask her what she was talking about, but no words escaped my lips. I couldn't speak. Tara looked into my eyes. "And only I can stop it." With those words, her eyes seemed to shine with a white glow. I was nearly getting a head ache from looking into them. Her eyes dulled and her face morphed to Xena's. "Kane, you must bring peace! Domino is taking an irrational route to peace…a pathway to darkness and power…the worlds can't survive it! And I have a feeling that…" she rubbed her belly, which was suddenly larger than normal. "Kane, stop Domino!" I wasn't sure whose voice I heard coming from the girl's lips: Tara's, Xena's, or Destati's?

She held her hand out for me to grab, but a column of darkness rose from the ground below her, covering head to toe in darkness. When the darkness, it revealed Rika, her arm outstretched to me. Her hair blew about behind her menacingly, the evil glint in her eyes burning through my core. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach as I felt myself about to puke. _Light_ escaped my throat, exploding from my mouth. Covering my mouth, I twisted my head around to see Phoenix Asher standing inches behind me, his arm outstretched and his fist closing. With every passing second that his fist tightened, I felt a tighter grip on my heart, and the harder the light poured from my lungs.

Asher vanished in a shower of light, and so did the feeling surrounding my heart and lungs. Coughing up as little blood as I could, I looked up to see Rika morphing into Domino. He donned a black cloak, his arms crossed and his eyes glaring daggers at me as if expecting me to rise and attack.

And I did. I flew into the air, fire exploding from one hand and ice from the other as electricity swirled around my body and wind blew my hair around as if I were in a tornado. Domino looked at me longingly as if he were about to apologize, but he simply smirked afterwards and flipped his hood over his head, shrouding his face in shadows and mystery. I almost nearly forgot who I was looking at. The memories kept coming and going. The good, and the bad. And away went the memories altogether. All I knew that standing before me was nothing but an enemy. Appearing in his hand was a Keyblade…it held no resemblance to his own. The Key in his hand definitely radiated power…a dark aura that I could feel tingle through my own skin and chilling me to the bone.

The handle sprouted out into two similar looking Keyblades that intersected, forming the shape of the**_X_** and at the top of this **_X _**was the sharp tip of a blade. Darkness exploded from its tip, slamming into my chest and sending me flying into the Lake of Destiny. What should have been shallow water was a deep, dark abyss of darkness. I couldn't see the surface. The darkness smothered me. It was unbearable. When I rose up from the depths, the water had vanished. I was standing on my knees on a grassy field, filled with several people standing behind me. Of them I recognized Asher, and Six. The both of them as well as everyone else behind me appeared to be on my side; the _light_ side.

In front of us appeared Domino, wearing his black cloak with the hood up as before. Rika floated in her normal attire to the side of him and three feet above the ground. Behind the two of them were twelve others, each donning their own black coat. Several had their hoods down—among them I recognized Dante Netherwood, standing a few inches from Domino, closer to him than all the rest. Dante smirked, his Keyblade appearing in his hand, as he pointed it to me menacingly.

I noticed at last that directly in front of me, facing Domino, was Kale Kamikaze. I jumped back in surprise. Had the kid always been there? He turned his back to Domino and stared into my eyes. Something was off about him…he seemed to have a face that held more maturity than last we met. His hair whipped around in the wind and his eyes were glowing pure white. His mouth opened as if to speak, and when he did his voice radiated with power that nearly stopped me completely.

**_"_****_It's obviously clear that you are not worthy nor prepared enough for this final confrontation,"_** the boy said, the voice of Destati's slithering its way into his voice as well. **_"_****_Luckily enough, one such as I always has a backup plan."_** He snapped his fingers, and a comet of light blasted from the sky, disappearing over the horizon.

The scene shifted a bit. I was blasting towards the air, light trailing behind me like a comet's tail. Domino blasted towards me, a flurry of darkness trailing behind him. I felt myself colliding with his body. Was it his body. I lifted my hand up. It was stained with blood. The Keyblade he held had pierced through my chest. It wasn't deep, and not close to fatal, but seeing blood on my hands almost woke me up right then and there. I thought I could hear the voices of Asher and Desiree in the background of my dream. I ignored it though. I fell down, headfirst to the ground.

Below, I saw the white comet from before flying along the ground below me. It looked like I would land _on_ the comet. When I thought I would fall to the ground, all of my bones crushing on impact, I felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around me as we slowly descended to the ground. I looked into the light of the comet. I thought I could see the person but…

I spit up water. My eyes snapped open, and my hair and face were soaking wet from the iciness of water. Looking up, I saw Asher standing above me with a glass of water tilted over my head. He tilted it more, allowing more water to rain down on me. I opened my mouth and allowed the water to go in, and I swallowed, the water going down and cooling my throat. Even though I was wet from the water, I felt like I was burning up. I was sweating. That dream was _intense_. "How long was I…out?" I asked, Asher chuckling above me as I slowly sat up, shaking my head as water flew from each strand of hair and wet the faces of Asher and Desiree who stood on their knees around me.

"A few hours," Asher said to me, poking at his foot and wincing in the slight pain.

I looked to Asher's foot which was covered with a bandage. Has the great obliterator of light and destroyer of darkness really been vanquished by a twisted ankle? Lifting my arm, I felt a warm sensation fill my senses and the scent of roses entered my nostrils, and Asher's foot glowed green for a few seconds. The green light faded and Asher slowly unwrapped his bandages, wiggling his toes and suddenly jumping up, landing on both of his feet easily. I chuckled at his childishness. But his childishness was nothing compared to Domino's. _Domino_.

I glanced to the couch where Domino sat emotionlessly, staring at the ground and not bothering to look up with a smile at the sound of my voice. That made me sad. He was always smiling when he heard my voice. Knowing I was okay should have excited him to no end. But here he was moping over…what exactly? _Oh yeah…his sister._

I felt like a completely terrible person for forgetting about her. She was possessed by Destati, her soul probably being eaten alive by the goddess's light. Asher slipped into his socks and shoes and said aloud, killing the silence, "I guess I'll be on my way then. You guys take care now."

"Not going to try and finish off Domino?" I asked, and Asher shot me a deadly glare.

"Oh, I still want him gone," Asher erupted while trying to stay quiet for Domino's sake for whatever reason. "I spent three hours without leaving this dump and getting fresh air. I'm going take a stroll. And if you know me already, I'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow, depending on my mood." _Yeah, no kidding_. "See ya then." Asher walked to the door and opened it , stepping through and closing it behind him.

I looked around the room. Desiree was suddenly interested in her own shadow, despite her relationship with the Shadows before. The Moogle sat in a chair in the corner reading an old leathery book. Can things like that Moogle _read_? Well, if it can talk, it can read as well. Doctor Robert Julius was studying a few of his lab books and some poorly drawn sketches of Shadows, Neoshadows, and Moogles. Domino finally stomped his foot on the ground that shook the place, causing everyone to look up at him.

"I could still save Diantha, if it isn't too late," he said, clutching a fist in front of him. "And if not, I'll find a way to bring her back. _And_ Tara. _And _my parents and all of those other Utopians who died."

Domino wanted this _dark era_ to arise within the worlds…but he was also a sweet, caring guy who wanted to bring all of these people back to life. Just as it was hard for me to pick a side, I couldn't exactly place what side Domino was on either. If not for his motives hidden in darkness, you would've thought that his heart was comprised only of light.

"Everything will be alright," I told him, trying to feel sure of myself. In my dream, I saw the eyes of Destati _in_ Kale. What did that mean? Did she move on from Diantha and straight to Kale? How many poor vessels were in between the two? And why Kale of all people? Like always, I kept this dream, or vision, or whatever it was, to myself. Domino was not to know of this. It was then that I realized someone was missing. "Where's Rika?"

"She went take a walk an hour before you awoke," Julius replied quickly without looking up from his books or his drawings. "She hasn't returned yet. Why don't you take Moogle with you? He can find her. He has a great sense of smell, you know."

"So does Domino," I said.

"Touché," the man replied, flipping a page in his book.

"I need some time to think," Domino told me, standing up and walking to me, placing a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. "I'll stay here to keep an eye on these two. If you're worried about Rika, which you really shouldn't be, then you can go with Moogle and try to find her. Be safe, Kane."

"I will," I told him, and exited out of the building. I heard the door open again behind me and the Moogle flew towards me, his bat wings flapping and barely keeping him afloat in the air. He landed on my shoulder. The creature was surprisingly weightless. On my shoulder he felt like a balloon. We began walking to the back of the Accessory Shop, when something caught our eye. "What the—" Lying on the ground on her belly, her arms sprawled out in front of her, was Rika. Surrounding her were seven Neoshadows, each jumping around her as if they were performing some sort of ritual. "Rika!"

I ran to her, but she dissolved into darkness. As soon as she did, each of the Neoshadows glared their yellow eyes at me like I was lunch, and they each jumped for me. Each of them, before they could get within a foot from me, vanished into darkness, puddles of black liquid spraying to the ground, staining the cobblestone. Rika fell from above, landing softly in the puddle of darkness underneath her feet. Darksouls was in her hand, the tip stained with black blood. She willed her Key to vanish.

"I didn't even need you to find her, buddy," I told the Moogle, patting him on the head—I guessed it was a him—and he looked into my eyes. His eyes were eye-level with mine as he was on my shoulder. I looked back to Rika. "What were you up to, Rika?"

"Seeing if I can track down Destati," Rika replied, wiping a tiny dribble of black blood off of her cheek. "For an hour I've been battling wave after wave of these _Heartless_." That's what Destati had called them…the _Heartless_. "After Destati's little light show, it seems that there's even more Heartless here than before. And I thought Destati wanted to _purge_ the darkness." Darksouls appeared in her hand again and she swung behind her, slicing through two Shadows and a Neoshadow, each vanishing into the darkness. Darksouls vanished again. "See, there's too many."

"We'll just have to keep battling," I said, feeling lightning spark along my fingers as I got into a battle stance.

"Wait," Rika said, holding her hand out as if to tell me to halt what I was doing. "You told the Moogle that you didn't need him to find me…what did that mean? He has a strong sense of smell? Maybe he can help us find Destati! I can still sense her…she can't be far off from here. She's still in Traverse Town. Would you help us, little guy?" She held her hand out to the Moogle.

The Moogle seemed angered, its cheeks getting puffier and its face getting redder. It opened its mouth and snapped at Rika as if trying to bite the girl. Rika retracted her hand, surprised by the Moogle's outburst. "I don't help people, kupo," came the Moogle's high and squeaky voice. "What's in it for me?"

Rika looked deep in though, waiting a few seconds before responding with, "We'll bring you back a souvenir. Something from any world out there. You name it, we can get it."

"You know what I don't like even _more_ than helping people?" Moogle asked, and Rika and I shook our heads. "I hate when people owe me something. No favors, kupo." I raised its tiny, stubby little arm. "Fine, I guess I can help, kupo. But don't expect me to be a big help. Haven't used my nose in quite a while." _Could he just shut off his sense of smell_?

"What about Domino?" I asked, remembering that we weren't including him in this little expedition.

"Let him rest," Rika replied. "He needs it after all he's been through. Are you really desperate not be hanging out alone with me without your precious Domino?"

"No, it's not that," I stuttered, fumbling over my words. "I'm just worried about him."

"We all are, kid," Rika said back, ruffling my hair.

I slapped her hand away and said, "Okay, so, Moogle…can you smell Destati's light? You should've gotten a huge whiff of it back when she showed up. Is it near? Is _she _near? Where is she, Moogle?"

"Calm down, kupo," the Moogle replied, holding both of his stubby arms on either side of his nose. "The scent is faint, but definitely there." I nodded, ready to find Destati and try to figure out more about her. Rika and I walked to where Moogle pointed at; it was a gate farther back from the shop. A sign was hanging from the door that read: **_Second District_**. "What are you waiting for, kupo?"

Rika pushed open the doors, straining to keep her balance as the doors slowly opened. I helped her, placing my hands on the flat surface of the door and pushing on it with all my might. When we got through and started walking, the door quickly slammed behind us. How heavy was that door anyway? We were on higher ground. There was a railing in front of us, so it seemed like we stood on a balcony towering over the rest of the _district_. Rika jumped into the air and stood on the railing, looking over the entire district. She looked to me and waved, jumping off and landing on the lower ground four feet below. I did the same, jumping off and landing to the side of her, the Moogle nearly falling off of my shoulder.

I hadn't noticed before, but the night air felt freezing, stinging at my eyes and forcing me to put my hands in my pockets. I thought that whenever we had arrived here, it was warmer, but I guess I was mistaken. "Look at all these stars," I said, my voice cutting through the silence like a knife. I nearly jumped. I hadn't expected my quiet voice to sound so loud. I pointed to the sky where millions of stars were floating in the black sky. Among them was Utopia…I was wondering how they were doing back in my homeworld. "One of these is Utopia…and one could be Daybreak Town…and—"

"Kane, I see why Domino likes you so much," Rika said, putting a hand on my shoulder. Her hand's warmth seeped through my shirt, and I was surprised to feel any warmth at all. "One, you're a little cute." She pushed the bangs out of my face. How long were they going to fall into my face today? "Two, you genuinely care about other people. A lot of people who bathe in the _light_ are still ruthless, unforgiving individuals. You're different. I like that."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, trying to figure out what someone who immersed herself in darkness was taking a sudden interest in me. "Isn't the darkness supposed to change your emotions and make you…I don't know…evil?"

"Kane, sit down," Rika told me, walking over to a bench on the side of a wall. I followed her and the two of us sat down. "Just because one chooses to ally with the dark does _not_ mean they'll turn evil or something. Yes, it is the most likely possibility but there are always those select few who choose to do good things _with_ those dark powers."

"But gathering an army of dark Keybearers to create an era of darkness _sounds_ pretty evil," I retorted, knowing very well that what Domino and Rika were doing _couldn't_ be any good. "What do you hope to accomplish?"

"I'm not supposed to say, according to Domino," Rika said, her eyes darting to the left as if expecting someone to be overhearing the two of us. "Have you heard the legend of the great and mighty Kingdom Hearts?" I shook my head, though the name did sound vaguely familiar. "We've learned this back in Daybreak High School, as well as from Merlin. Apparently, each world was born from the darkness. There's an old saying that states, '_The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes'_."

"I've heard that…in a dream," I told Rika, not wanting to say that it was Destati who had recently told me that. So this entire crusade Domino was on was based on nothing more than a stupid saying and a legend?

Continuing, Rika said, "Kingdom Hearts is said to be the first world. It's inhabitants are unknown. It's a world filled with light. Now, according to legend and if the saying is correct, then the bright light of Kingdom Hearts spawned a powerful darkness…it became what we call the universe. A dark, open expanse of dark energy. The darkness is considered the creator of all things…well, after it itself was created from Kingdom Hearts' light. Anyway, it is said that each world was spawned _from _that darkness. Domino and I think that if we can see if this legend behind Kingdom Hearts is true, we can take control over its light and create a much _darker_ atmosphere…something to make everyone take in and utilize that darkness, to make them stronger."

"So your goal is strength," I said, everything still seemingly out of place in my mind. "Or…as you put it back in Daybreak…to be more confident. So strong of heart, body, soul, and abilities then?"

"I guess so," Rika muttered, looking unsure of it herself. "It's all going to come to light in the future." _How ironic_. I felt something scrape across my left cheek…I felt my cheek and lifted up my finger, seeing it stained with blood. "Kane…" I looked up above my head to be greeted with the face of a Neoshadow, its claws outstretched near either side of my face, one of its claws stained with my blood. The two of us immediately jumped off of the bench, Rika readying her Darksouls. "You just interrupted the wrong people."

Three Neoshadows appeared right behind Rika. Instinctively, I pointed my palms at them and two of them exploded, electricity sparking around them. Had I just blown them up from the inside out? Rika slashed through the stomach of the one in front of her, quickly turning around and killing the last one behind her.

"These things need to leave us alone, kupo," Moogle said into my ear. I nearly jumped. I had forgotten he was even there. "What is their source?"

"I wish Destati could've told us more about these _Heartless_," Rika said, flexing her fingers in front of her face while swinging Darksouls with her other hand. "Where did they come from? Are they working for somebody? Probably not, their attacks are done through instinct, not orders. The flow of their attacks also shows that they're not afraid of attacking and being killed, so they're not intelligent. And more keep showing up!"

"Can someone please tell me what these things are!?" yelled a familiar voice. And to think I thought it would be at least a _little_ longer of us not seeing him. Jumping from the balcony was Phoenix Asher, a Shadow with its arms wrapped around his leg as he struggled to run towards us. I nearly fell over laughing at the hilarious sight. Rika quit her laughing and jumped at Asher, swing Darksouls. Asher held his arms over his head as if expecting Rika to attack him, but she instead performed a low strike to kill the Shadow. Asher's leg was free. "I would say thank you, but I don't particularly like you guys."

"I hate you too," Rika immediately said, smirking at Asher. "Why is it that you persistently attempt on following us wherever we go?"

"You see, the big boss of the Hunters' operation believes Domino is dead," Asher explained, gaining a nod from Rika. "I'm trying to get rid of him so Lord Ibiki doesn't find out."

"So you really want to kill him," I said, making Asher look at me with a puzzled look.

Asher finally sighed and replied, "I don't know, I thought I did. I don't want to be a killer…Domino can be one all he wants; I'm fine with that. But do _I _have to kill him?" I shook my head, and the boy before me nodded. "Good, then I'll stop. But if Ibiki finds out that I allowed him to live…he'll do away with me. I'm his right-hand man, his partner. If he finds this out he'll get rid of me and go after Domino a thousand times over from what I've ever done. I couldn't put you guys in that position."

"Which side do you choose?" Rika asked, sending waves of confusion over to Asher and I. That was so sudden. Why would she ask that? "The light, or the dark?"

"I stand by my original thoughts," Asher replied, punching his palm with his fist. "I think that labeling someone based on what powers or what kind of person they are is wrong. Lord…I mean, Ibiki, thinks the same but takes it to a certain extent. I don't like seeing people hurt."

"Which is why you trapped me in a ring of light," Rika replied. "Or tried to drown Domino in the artificial light."

"Or almost suffocated me within that cage of light back in Enix's world," I told him.

Asher sighed and said, "Okay, you've gotta learn to let that stuff go!" Asher chuckled, holding a hand over his mouth suddenly. "Oh, I had forgotten what laughter felt like. Hunting down Domino and being ordered by Ibiki for so long has put fear into my heart. Kane…you have the power to change people. I like that about you." Almost immediately, the ground began to shake underneath us. "Do you have the power to change the way a ground moves?"

"Grounds aren't supposed to move," Rika said, readying her Darksouls.

"Thought as much," Asher replied, his gun-like Keyblade appearing in his hand. Darkness began swirling from the ground, several portals of darkness releasing many Shadows and Neoshadows that jumped at Rika, Asher, and I. The ground in the center of the district turned completely black, and a large black hand rose itself from the depths, grabbing onto the railing of the balcony on the side of it. "_That_, my friends, is not supposed to happen in nature."

A head of some sort rose itself, followed by a large body. What _was _this thing? A large _Heartless_ revealed itself from the darkness. It was a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with midnight black skin. Its legs were short and its feet were very thin and curled upward. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. The one thing that really stuck out was the large heart-shaped hole in its chest that penetrated from the front to the back. Its head is covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles. The way they flew about in the dark winds surrounding it reminded me of dreadlocks. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes were visible through its tentacle-dreadlock hair.

"Okay, let's explore all our options here," Asher said, digging his fingers into his skin. "We can try and fight this thing, or we can run. All in favor of fighting?" Rika and I chose not to answer him. "All in favor of running—oh god."

The creature before us balled his hand into a fist and slammed it forward, only a few feet away from us. There was an immense vibration once his fist collided with the ground. From his fist, darkness sprouted, and from the darkness, multiple Shadows and Neoshadows.

"I want no part in this, kupo," the Moogle on my shoulder said, floating off of my shoulder and towards the exit back to the _first_ district.

"Had he always been there?" Asher asked, taking notice of the flying Moogle. A Shadow leapt at Asher's face. Swinging his Keyblade, the Shadow vanished into darkness. "Fine! Hey, Mr...Mr. Darkside! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Rika slapped her forehead in annoyance as Asher waved his gun-key to get the beast's attention. It turned its head towards Asher. "Taste this!" From the tip of its blade, Asher's Keyblade fire a bullet towards the beast, who I decided then to call a Darkside. Asher should've thought this plan through. The bullet went straight through Darkside's heart…or, uh, lack of heart. "That could've gone better." Again he fired a bullet, this time at its face.

The bullet shot towards Darkside like a comet, slamming into its face and making the beast stumble back a few steps. With every step he took back, more and more Shadows and Neoshadows rose from the darkness at Darkside's feet.

"Maybe, if we manage to kill this thing, the rest of them will vanish as well," Rika said. "It keeps making those Heartless appear. So I think this is their mother…or father? How do you tell a Heartless's sex?" Asher and I shook our heads. "Oh well. Asher, aim for its face. I'll aim for its feet. Kane…do some magic."

As she said that, Asher fired bullet after bullet at Darkside's face while Rika herself jumped forward, slashing at the creature's feet. Darkside's feet were severed and disappeared into darkness. Darkside fell onto its stubby legs, but soon stood up as feet grew back on his legs. Eyes widening, I raised a hand and sent a ball of electricity towards its face. As Rika kept hacking and slashing away at Darkside's feet, and Asher and I kept firing bullets and lightning towards its face, the beast didn't show signs of being weakened yet.

Raising its hand, the sky showered us with balls of darkness that Asher and I had to keep bouncing around to avoid. Rika, however, allowed the darkness to rain on her, though it didn't hurt her. In fact, her body absorbed the darkness which she then used to power up her own attacks. And then Darkside swung its fist at me, getting ready to punch. When his fist came down upon me, I barely had time to react. But I saw someone flash by me, jumping into the air towards the Heartless.

Starlight in hand, Domino flew passed Darkside, slashing through the giant's neck with his Keyblade. Domino landed on the other side of the creature, and Darkside's disembodied head fell to the ground to the side of Rika. In a storm of darkness, Darkside vanished, each and every other Heartless around vanishing into the darkness as well. I smiled and yelled in happiness, "Domino!" Starlight vanished. He looked a whole lot better. A look of confidence, as per usual, was in his face. On his shoulder was the Moogle who had abandoned us minutes ago.

"At what point did we ask for your help?" Rika asked at Domino.

"At what point did I ask you to get attacked?" Domino retorted.

"At what point did I ever stop thinking the two of you made a cute couple?" I replied, chuckling. "You're perfect for each other. Rika's a keeper, you know." What the _hell_ did I just say? I almost wanted to hit myself over the head for that comment.

"Gag me with a spoon," Asher groaned, looking away from the three of us.

"How 'bout a fork," Domino said instantly, scowling towards Asher. "Why is _he_ here?"

And so I explained to him Asher's position in all of this: how he didn't want to kill Domino anymore, how he's scared of what Ibiki would do to him, and how he helped us fend off the Darkside. Domino nodded slowly, looking a tad uncertain as to if we should trust Asher. After all, he was kind of stalking us so he could _get rid _of Domino.

The cold air around us seemed to warm, the breeze only a tad colder than the air. The stars seemed to shine brighter in the night sky. Domino looked to the sky and said, "Betcha you can't count all those stars out there." The other three of us looked to Domino. "They say there are an infinite number of worlds…which means an infinite number of stars that we could see. I want to see every single one of them."

"Impossible," Rika said, to which Domino replied with, "Not for me."

"What did you two do out here by yourselves?" Domino asked to Rika and I. "You know, before the Hunter over there showed up." Asher stuck out his tongue at Domino.

"We just talked about stuff," I said before Rika could say anything. "We enjoyed ourselves." Domino smirked and raised an eyebrow, so I quickly said with my hands in the air, "Not like that, Domino!"

Domino nodded in understanding, but still continued to chuckle. "And since when did the two of you become friends?"

I really had to think about that one. Back in Daybreak, Rika was a normal girl with nothing wrong with her. She eventually consumed too much of the darkness and became who she is now…someone I wanted to avoid after that day. I had no intention of becoming her friend. Yet here the two of us were, having a nice chat. Well, before Asher, the giant Heartless, and Domino showed up. Rika replied with, "Since I made him my friend. What? Jealous that you can't have Kane all to yourself anymore?"

"Not at all!" Domino yelled in defense. "So…Asher, are you on our side then? Will you stop chasing us around and quit trying to kill me…for good?"

"Completely done," Asher said, making his way to the bench and sitting down with his legs crisscrossed. "I'm on your side…but what am I to tell Ibiki? He's a pretty scary person."

"Don't go back to Ibiki," Domino replied. "If you're that scared of him, don't go back. I'll take care of him…for good." Asher slowly nodded. Domino looked at the sky and his mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"Domino?" I tried asking, but my own voice couldn't be heard. I gasped, slowly realizing that I was within a dream. Was _all_ of this a dream? It couldn't have been. That's impossible! "What's happening?" I asked myself, my voice echoing off of the walls of my mind. I felt a presence behind me. I turned around quickly, and right in front of me was the body of Diantha, possessed by Destati. Her eyes glowed even hotter now than they did before. "What is this?"

"I'll be observing all of you closely," Destati said, holding her hand out to me. "I have to make sure that none of you switch sides, for the prophecy will fall apart. Phoenix Asher, on the other hand, is destined to be allying with you, Kane. Domino, however, is destined for the dark and you are destined for the light. That's just how things are. So don't try to switch sides…or I'll just have to use other methods of keeping you in line." She shined with a bright aura and morphed into Tara, who then morphed into Kale. Destati vanished, and I could soon hear Domino talking again.

"Kane, what's wrong?" Domino asked, noticing how I was just standing there thinking about what Destati had just said. Did she enter _my mind_? It was bad enough that she had easy access to my heart, I didn't need her to get into my mind as well! I shook my head, not answering Domino's question. "Kane, watch this." Pointing Starlight at the sky, a beam of darkness shot from its tip and shot to the sky. Once over fifty feet above us, the darkness exploded, creating a fireworks-effect with the darkness. I smiled. The darkness and the light were both beautiful and could do amazing things…

Bits of darkness rained down as comets upon the second district. "Whoa, Domino, watch out!" I yelled out, narrowly dodging a falling dark-meteor. When it hit the ground, it dispelled into darkness. "You can hurt somebody!"

Walking over from the door back to the first district was Doctor Julius. I never really saw him leave the back of his desk so I had never seen the bottom half of his body, but I noticed that his left leg was gone. It was replaced by a peg leg, so he limped whenever he walked. "Just thought I'd come check up on you! Desiree's taking a nap, so I guess I'll head back over there. Whoa…what is that?" Almost immediately, colliding with the doctor's head was a ball of darkness, making him fall off of the balcony and to the ground below.

"Oh god," I said, rushing over to the fallen man. One of Domino's comets of darkness had fallen onto Julius. Something that looked so beautiful at first had become devastating and took a turn for the worst. I helped Julius up, but darkness began swirling around him. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Domino said, all of us soon staring at Julius who has darkness swirling around him. "Julius?"

"I feel funny," Julius muttered, his body beginning to tingle. "What is this…power…I feel? It's making my heart race…oh no. You've triggered something." He saw that we all had looks of confusion on our faces, so he replied, "As a scientist, I inject myself with the many DNAs of specific animals. This experimenting started when I was back in my homeworld, with my mentor, Dr. Frankenollie. He experimented on every one of his underlings…I was his main packrat though. This darkness…I could feel it accelerating the molecules in my body in such a way that they shouldn't!" He dropped to his knees, suddenly shaking as if he were having a seizure. "You've done it, boy! You've unlocked by inner beast by bringing to life these other DNA particles within me!" Bots of metal jutted out of either side of his neck suddenly, making him look like something from _Frankenstein_.

"What kind of animal genetics are inside of him?" Asher asked, backing away from the man who was shaking out of control. His arms started to become buffer as if he had always worked out. His body became larger and his face started to become disfigured. "What _is_ he?"

"Darkness can also accelerate genetics," Domino said, staring in awe at the man who grew at a rapid rate.

His lab coat ripped, and only his underclothing grew with him. Julius began growing fur all over his body and his hair became shorter and blood-red. Julius had dark blue fur, his fangs jutted out of his mouth and were orangey-yellow. He wore a light blue shirt, which is ripped at the sleeves, dark blue pants worn up to his chest, and still wore his gloves. There were stitches across some parts of Julius's body.

Its size was huge, almost towering over the balcony. "Master!" Moogle squealed out, flying from Domino's shoulder to directly in front of Julius. "What's happened to you, kupo?"

Julius growled at Moogle. His voice was now that of an actual beast. It snapped its fangs at Moogle, making the cute critter jump back in alarm and Moogle fell onto his back. I ran to Moogle and lifted him up, bringing him to the bench where I laid him down.

"This isn't good," I muttered, just as the beast before us growled as loudly as it could, flexing its arms through the air while intimidating us with its fangs. It began to walk slowly closer to us. Domino, Rika, and Asher each readied their Keyblades.

Thanks to Domino's darkness, Julius turned into _this_. We had to make sure he didn't harm anyone, whether intentional or not. Lightning sparked across my fingers as we leapt into battle.

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**And so Julius is born! How was this chapter? Leave a review to keep this story alive!**


	15. Balance Slays the Demon

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. Here's another chapter of the great Domino Effect! I'm glad you guys are still enjoying this, and I'm trying to update as quick as possible for you. I'd like to say thank you for ****Star-Shaped-****χ****, were it not for your constant reviews from my previous stories, I probably wouldn't have come up with this idea (well I would have eventually, just not as a prequel to my other story, Road to Xehanort.) I would also like to thank ****_Isaiah_****by telling him thank you for liking this fic so much and for saying that it's his favorite (I think that's what he said). **

**How are your holidays? I was kinda not enjoying mine but this fic seems to be the only thing I enjoy and is keeping me going through these holidays. Since I go back to school on January 5****th****, from that time onward updates will be a tad slowed due to school and stuff since I can't type all day long, but I'll try to type as much as I can when I'm home. Okay, so…onward to the chapter!**

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**Balance Slays the Demon**

Normally I would tell you that as we leapt into battle, I used some of my awesome magic abilities and kicked some serious butt. No such luck. As Domino and Rika began slashing at the monster before us that had once been Julius, and as Asher began firing bullets of light towards the beast, I created a ring of fire around Julius's throat. Julius growled in anger and the flames around his neck disappeared. And then he swung his fist forward, his knuckles slamming into my chest and sending me flying back three yards. The battle had barely begun, and yet I was already defeated.

I felt my heart pumping against my chest, several of my bones out of place and both of my shoulders dislocated. I couldn't move anything except for my eyes, mouth, and legs. "Kane!" Domino shouted, forgetting about Julius and rushing towards me. I coughed as Domino leaned over me, blood flying from my lip and hitting Domino in the forehead. Domino held a hand over my heart and screamed out, "Curaga!" A green light washed over me, and the scent of flowers overwhelmed my nostrils. I suddenly felt like I was floating on air, and my head slowly rose up.

Looking Domino in the eyes, I said, "Let's hurt this bastard." I stood up—a little shakily at first—and realized my bones had healed and the blood dribbling down my lip was gone. Domino and I looked to Julius. His eyes were full of rage, it didn't even look like we were staring at the same person he was before. He threw a punch at Rika, but she retaliated by stabbing him in his fist with Darksouls. Julius backed away, hitting the wall behind him and howling in pain, blood staining his white gloves.

The Moogle flew from the bench to right in front of the beast and yelled out, "Stop it, kupo! What has gotten into you!?"

"S-stay b-back!" a rather humanoid voice shouted from the creature before us. It sounded like the original Julius, but it was strained as if he were fighting back. Fighting against this monster's urges. "There's n-nothing you can do! Take Desiree and leave this world! I'll only harm all of…of…you…" Julius began shaking and then bared his fangs. He growled as loudly as I could, the air from his breath knocking the weightless Moogle back a few yards. Julius slammed his two fists into the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked Asher and I to the ground.

Asher slowly stood up, locking eyes with Julius and then yelling, "Do you _know_ who I am!? Phoenix Asher is my name! As obliterator of light and destroyer of darkness, I will vanquish you! With some help of course. Now gather under the name…of the Keyblade Hunters!" Snapping his fingers, ten Hunters appeared surrounding the second district.

"I thought you weren't working as a Keyblade Hunter anymore," I whispered, slowly getting to my feet.

"They don't have to know that," Asher replied quietly. Finally Asher screamed, "Listen up, Hunters! Help me take down this beast!"

All at once, beams of artificial light shot from all directions and collided with Julius, an orb of light appearing around the monster and trapping him within. From Asher's hands came the larger beam of artificial light, which pierced through the orb of light around Julius and shot him square in the chest, making the monster howl as loudly as he could. Julius threw a punch, hitting the force-field of light surrounding him, seemingly shocking him until he would not dare to try that again.

"You're going to try and kill it?" I asked, fear rising in my throat. I do not condone killing living things no matter how vicious. The sight of this beat…_Julius_…in pain, was just so overwhelming. And there I was earlier, trying to choke it with a ring of fire. Now I was feeling regret, and fear, for this poor man who was forced by the darkness and all those mutations, which turned him into what he was now.

"What else can we do?" Asher asked back. "He'll hurt everyone if he stays loose. There's no possible way for us to let this thing ago. Unthinkable."

"Asher's got a point," Domino said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Keeping something like this alive will endanger everyone." If I remembered correctly it was _he_ who brought this monster upon everyone. Nothing he could say would change the way things turned out. "What is he doing?"

Julius growled while he shook as if in another seizure. I an instant, he shot both arms up on either side of him at the same time, and the orb of of light around him shattered like glass. Asher tried harder to fire a beam of his artificial light at Julius's chest, but Julius began walking forward, the light not affecting him at all. Asher ceased fire and dove to the right, just as Julius's fist came crashing to the ground where Asher once stood.

Another shockwave ensued, leaving the ground with a huge dent. Julius growled to the sky and jumped up, landing on the balcony above. Where was he going? And then the beast smashed through the door to the first district, rampaging through.

"Desiree!" Asher yelled out, running up to the wall and jumping up, grabbing the rim of the balcony and pulling himself up. He looked back to the rest of us and called out, "We have to save that poor girl's life. Hunters, you're dismissed." He snapped his fingers, and the Hunters surrounding the district vanished into artificial light. And Asher ran passed the wreckage of the door separating the first and second districts, chasing after Julius without slowing.

"He really cares about people," Domino muttered as if just noticing this trait about Asher. "Let's go help him out." And so we followed Asher, heading into the first district ourselves.

After getting to the accessory shop minutes later, Asher ran through the doors with the little Desiree in his arms. The small girl wrapped her arms around Asher's neck in fear as he dashed towards us. Suddenly, the side of the wall of the shop exploded into hundreds of pieces of splintery wood, and from it ran Julius, swinging its arms at Asher. With every swing, the monster got closer and closer to Asher who looked to be having a difficult time of outrunning the beast. He ran passed us, entering the second district with Desiree. Julius tried to follow, but Domino, Rika, and I blocked the entrance.

Julius growled at the sky and pounded his fists downward, the cobblestone ground breaking from the weight of his fists. Rika jumped forward with Darksouls and stabbed Julius in the torso, making the beast howl in pain, blood dripping from his wound. Domino shot forward and whacked Julius in the forehead with Starlight, making Julius fall onto his butt. Julius rubbed his forehead and shakily stood up to his feet, drool hanging from his bottom lip.

"Honestly, I would've stuck with that giant Heartless from earlier," Rika remarked before sending a wave of darkness crashing into Julius. I almost wanted to scream at her; why use darkness on something that was created _by_ the darkness?

And Julius leapt forward, grabbing both Domino and Rika in his meaty fists and lifting them off of the ground. He held the two high above his head, the two of them squirming for freedom. Starlight and Darksouls clattered to the ground. I wasn't up there with them, but I could tell Julius was squeezing them tightly. The two of my friends looked out of breath that it almost made me want to cry. Lifting my hand into the air, lightning shot from the sky, narrowly dodged both Domino and Rika, and slammed into Julius's torso, making him drop my friends to the ground.

Julius shook his head in anger and threw himself at me. Creating a vortex of wind around me, I used the wind to make Julius rise into the air when he got close to me. The wind was all around me, but I had no choice. Clenching my fist, I cranked up the velocity of the wind speed. Soon, all of Julius's clothing and skin were covered in cuts and scrapes from the sharp wind.

Julius grabbed his scraped up face in his hands, staining his gloves with fresh blood. The wind around me vanished, and Julius fell to the ground, shaking the entire town. And I felt the ground shaking from under my feet. The ground gave way, and all of us fell through the ground into the dark unknown. As we fell, Domino grabbed my hand as Rika continuously fired beams of darkness at Julius as the beast fell by the side of us.

And we hit the ground. Julius hit the ground but for some odd reason it didn't shake the ground. I looked around…we were _underneath_ Traverse Town. The room around us was large and covered with drawings all over the walls. The drawings looked like scribbles that faintly resembled _people_. I ran my hand along the wall, studying each drawing and not worrying about Julius, who was on the ground immobilized. Rika kept poking Julius's head to see if the creature was dead—I saw it was still breathing, so obviously not—and Rika stopped poking him.

My eyes came across a picture that depicted some huge beast…it looked like _Julius_! It wasn't very accurate, but I was sure that it was Julius. Could these walls predict the future? Are they…predicting some kind of prophecy? I almost tripped on something…a candle? Giant candles lines each of the walls, a yellow light illuminating the drawings on the walls. How had I not noticed the flames earlier?

I came across a picture of six women, all in princess gowns or dresses. Moving passed them I saw a picture of a girl with red hair and blue eyes. But for some reason she looked very familiar. This was the only drawing with the most detail…it was like I was staring at a face of beauty. I could see each individual strand of hair, her eyes glistening in the torchlight, the unmistakable facial resemblance to…

I cocked my head to Rika. Rika saw my stare so she approached me, looking at the picture of the redheaded girl. "The hair length…" she muttered, running a finger along the drawing. "So similar to my own. And the face…why, it looks just like me. Who is this chick?"

"Uh, guys?" a voice called out, and the two of us ignored the drawing for now to see what Domino wanted. Standing in front of Domino was a now awakened Julius. "Run." A few seconds after he said that, Domino broke out into a run, running passed us. Rika and I followed him, away from Julius and farther into this cave. Ahead of was a small opening in the wall that allowed us to go through. The three of us entered and found ourselves in a small corridor leading into a much larger room up ahead.

Along the walls of the corridor were more pictures. One looked like that strange 'X' shaped Keyblade that Domino held in my dream earlier. Next to it was what looked like a deserted wasteland. Keyblades were shoved into the ground tip-first on either side, and down the middle was a road in which two figures walked down. One wore a strange looking helmet, the other was born and had silver beard. Not an old person's silver, either. It was _my_ silver. My mom's silver. We exited the corridor and we entered a much larger room.

It was circular and all around the rooms were more torches that lit up and revealed the various pictures around. There were far too many to describe. In the center of the room was a circle of torches…in the center of them was a pedestal, and on it was something sparkling like crystal. It was shaped…like a keyhole? How strange. Then it dawned on me. I whipped my head around. Julius hadn't followed me. He wouldn't have been able to fit in that corridor would he?

And then it happened. Exploding from the corridor was Julius, bits of rubble and dirt flying from where he smashed through the tiny corridor. "Watch out!" yelled a voice. As that was said, Domino, Rika, and I ducked to the ground as a beam of light—_artificial light_—shot passed us, hitting Julius square in the chest. All around the room came beams of artificial light, each hitting Julius and creating a sphere of light around him, locking him within. I noticed that all around the room were Keyblade Hunters.

On the far edge of the room where the first beam of light came from, another corridor to the side of him, was Asher, floating two feet above the ground with Desiree wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist to keep herself up, and the Moogle—whom I had forgotten about—that was standing atop Asher's head. The artificial light poured from his hand and continued to keep the orb around Julius locked.

"How'd you get in here!?" Rika yelled out.

"There's another entrance in a _Fifth District_," Asher replied, smiling at us. "Long story short, we found our way in here to make sure Julius wouldn't find us. Well, we heard the ruckus and came here…but it seems Julius is here as well."

"And what makes you think you can trap Julius _this_ time as opposed to _last _time?" I yelled at Asher, bracing my arms in front of me in case Julius broke free.

"More Hunters are here!" Asher yelled back, just as several more Keyblade Hunters appeared and circled around the orb of light surrounding Julius. Each fired a beam of light towards the beast, making the orb larger and brighter and, I guess unable to escape from. "Being a second-in-command has its perks!"

Appearing in a flash of light beside him was someone I recognized…a girl from a vision I had back on the Titanic. If I remembered correctly, her name was Lucina. Her white-pink hair flowed dramatically behind her and her amber-orange eyes sparkled in the rays of the artificial light surrounding Julius. "You guys need to escape before Julius breaks free!" the girl yelled at all of us. "And Ash, don't think you can fool me. I heard every word you had said to these guys…you're not going to try and kill Domino anymore?" Asher's face got red, his secret finally out to Lucina. "That's great! I always knew that Ibiki couldn't control you!"

All of the Hunters were too busy with Julius to hear what Asher and Lucina were talking about. Asher quit shining a beam of artificial light at Julius, probably figuring that the Hunters had him taken care of. Asher dropped himself and Desiree to their feet. Asher made Desiree let go of him as he walked over to Lucina. "But now I can't return to you guys. The Keyblade Hunters will be nothing without me. Nothing…Ibiki's like a bad father, never sticking around to see his kids. He rarely ever gives you guys orders. That was always _my_ job."

"I'll take over," Lucina replied quickly, wrapping her arms around Asher and laying a kiss upon his cheek, making the boy blush. "I can fool Ibiki…tell him you died. He doesn't have to know that Domino survived. I'll make sure you'll never be working for Ibiki ever again." She looked to me who continued to stare at her. "Kane…take care of Ashy for me." Clapping her hands together she yelled, "Everyone! They say a world's heart is closed and locked away by a Keyhole. A Keyhole is like a portal for those who don't have Gliders or special abilities. It also leads to the lanes between the worlds. That crystal Keyhole…one of the first, crystalized and dormant in here for all eternity. Until now, of course."

"How do you know so much?" Asher asked.

"I do my fair share of studying," Lucina replied back. "Listen, once you guys leave here, it'd be wise never to return. I've been keeping an eye on Asher…and in turn, on you, Domino." Domino turned his head to Lucina. "Julius is a man-made monster…you messed with something in this world that can never be changed back. Return here and you can risk the stability of the world by making it even more unstable than it is now."

"What about Desiree?" Asher asked with sadness in his voice, as if he were a brother who was afraid to let his sister go. "Where will she end up?"

"I know," Rika said, and put on the most genuine smile I had ever seen. She walked to Desiree who was staring in awe at the light-covered Julius, and kneeled down to become eyelevel with the girl. "I'm afraid your uncle won't be coming back." Desiree's eyes started to tear up. "He wouldn't want you to cry. Dry those tears." Desiree wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "I know a great man who can take care of you. You'll also have a few sisters to take care of you as well." I eyed Rika, and she continued, "And a brother. The six of you will get along great, I'm sure."

Desiree whimpered and mouthed the word, "Okay." She ran to Asher and wrapped her arms around him as if they'd known each other their whole lives. She let go of him and walked to Rika, who summoned a portal of darkness in front of the girl. Desiree jumped back in fright.

"What the hell is the matter with you!?" Asher yelled at Rika.

"It's okay, I'll make the darkness protect you on your way there," Rika said, holding her hand on Desiree's heart. "Wherever you go, no matter how dark, you'll always find your way. Say hi to the gang for me." She held Desiree's hand and led the girl into the dark portal. Once the two stood inside, Rika stepped out calmly and slowly waved at the girl who tried to break free, but for some reason she could escape the portal. "It's going to be alright."

The little girl smiled as if she believed Rika, and the portal of darkness vanished with Desiree inside. Asher held his hand out like he lost a friend or a sibling, and then stared back at Lucina. "Ibiki is not to know where I am, or that Domino and I are even still alive. Understood?" Asher smiled a small, sad smile, and winked at Lucina, who returned the smile. "How do we _unlock_ this Keyhole?"

"With the Keyblade, of course," Lucina replied.

Domino, Rika, and Asher each responded by holding out their respective Keyblades, Domino and Rika firing beams of darkness at the Keyhole and Asher firing a beam of artificial light. When all three beams hit, the crystalized Keyhole began glowing with a florescent light that lit up the entire underground cavern. Almost immediately, the light surrounding Julius shattered like glass, and the beast slammed his fists to the ground in anger.

Each Keyblade Hunter except for Lucina and the former Hunter, Asher, disappeared. Lucina and Asher held hands for a few seconds before the former said, "You'd best be going. This beast will attack you any second. So far, the balance between the light, the dark, and our _artificial light_ have kept this demon at bay...but maybe it's not ready to be slain. Get out of here. I'll try my hardest to run the Hunters…not as good as you've done, but…I'll make sure I get the job done. Ibiki won't suspect a thing." Lucina kissed Asher's cheek and, as she was kissing his cheek, she vanished into light. When she was gone, Asher lightly rubbed his cheek.

Julius ran to us just when…I opened my eyes.

The light was so bright, but once it was gone, we were on the crystalized road that connected Traverse Town with every other world out there. Domino and Rika had landed on their feet perfectly, but I had landed on the ground with Asher lying right on top of me, his heel poking my forehead. I pushed him off of me and looked around. Which world would we visit now? We continued on, walking down the road, too tired to summon any Gliders. The road ahead was a long one.

The four of us—Domino, Rika, Phoenix Asher, and I—were destined to be together. It had to be fate that brought us together. Right?

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**Sorry this chapter is considerably shorter than the previous two, but there wasn't much going on in this chapter, but the next few should be longer. Maybe. I make no promises.**

**Please review!**


	16. Reach for the Stars

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. This is the first chapter I've written since I got back to school. If I'm not quick, expect a new chapter every weekend. If I ****_am_****quick, two chapters twice a week and POSSIBLY one on the weekend. How's school, college, or work going for you guys? Anyway…what else to say? Starting Chapter 20 we should be getting into the more Disney-esque worlds, so expect a lot of filler chapters and arcs as far as that goes. If you think there are any Disney worlds that would work FANTASTICALLY in this fic, feel free to give me some ideas on what Disney worlds to use here. It cannot be one that was in a Kingdom Hearts game already, unless it's something like how I put the Olympus world in this fic because, well, the gods live forever. Any ideas are appreciated! I'm still accepting dark-OCs, so feel free to send me some if you WANT to. Okay, on to the chapter!**

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**Reach for the Stars**

Walking along this crystalized road, I thought to myself. About all of this. Now that we were out of Traverse Town I had some breathing room to think about what had gone on there. That dream I had was so vivid, it was like I was actually there. But if it was more of Destati's magic, then it had to be a prophecy unfolding before my very eyes. Domino was obviously straying from the path of good…he was heading down a dark road where nobody could stop him. And Rika was by side. Sometimes I questioned why I was still friends with them. They were both always helping not only each other out, but me as well. They didn't even seem _evil_ like I had always thought the darkness to be. But it didn't matter. I would end up on the opposite side—rather right or wrong, I did not know.

I looked to Asher—someone who's chased us around for some time just to kill Domino. The way he changed sides so quickly was almost as if fate had pulled the strings and controlled him at that moment. Phoenix Asher was our enemy, an enemy to both the light and the dark. But here Asher was, traveling with us and disobeying his master. His role in my dream was what surprised me the most…he was on _my _side, the side of the light. He was helping the light to vanquish Domino and the darkness. He would obviously turn out to be a great friend.

"So why aren't you guys using your Gliders to travel world to world this time?" Asher asked, walking right on the side of me.

"How often do you get to _walk_ in space?" Domino replied, which shut Asher up. He looked to the sky. "How did you track us so easily all of those times? I'm pretty sure Kane threw away that button."

"Your fedora," Asher replied, walking ahead of me and throwing his arm around Domino. "Uh…I mean my fedora. It used to be mine, remember? I can track that sucker down. But now, the only time I'll need to track you is if we're separated or if I think that you're in trouble. That's what friends are for, right?"

"We're friends, are we?" Domino asked back, pushing Asher away from him. "You called me the _Dark Lord_. You choked me with light. You tried to kill me, Kane, Kale, and everyone else in Enix's world. How do you call that friendship?"

"Blame Ibiki, Domino," I told him, walking up to them. "Ibiki will do anything to make sure you're dead. But…he _thinks_ we're dead, eh?" Asher nodded. "We have to make sure we don't run into Ibiki. He'll attempt to kill us all."

After I said that, everything became quieter. Of course I would have to ruin the mood with something like that. As we walked I wrote in my journal. I had just finished off what had happened in Traverse Town, so I picked up my journal and put it in my satchel

A Glider sped past our heads, entering another world as quickly as it appeared. Several more flew through the Skies, each going into their own destined world. It still amazed me how many Keybearers there were. Utopia only had twenty. But all of these came from places like Daybreak and _Sanctuary_. _What other worlds harbored Keybearers?_ I wondered. Each of these many words—that I could see clearly now—looked so cool and it was hard to choose where our next destination would even be.

And then I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye, a hot flash of light grew brighter and brighter. Whipping my whole body around I saw a white comet streaking through the sky, vanishing into the distance and twinkling in the darkness of the vast universe. It was gone in a flash. The white hotness…as soothing and warm as it was in my dream. It was that same comet—the one in my dream in which I felt a pair of arms grab onto me from within the comet…I could barely see the person's face from within. What—or who—was inside of that comet?

"Did you guys see that?" I asked, looking to where the comet disappeared, hoping that it would return. Sadly, it didn't.

"See what?" Rika asked, following my gaze into the unknown. How had they not seen it?

"Never mind," I replied. As the four of us walked onward towards an unknown destination, my gaze never drifted from the corner of the sky where the comet had vanished into. I was almost feeling sadness from seeing it go. Looking at the comet was like looking at a friend who had gone away for a very long time. It filled my spirts with hope. The light was warm, forgiving, _loving_. I hadn't realized it then, but a single teardrop glistened in my eye. I blinked it away, tearing my vision from the sky to look at the backs of Domino, Rika, and Asher who all walked a few feet ahead of me.

I studied Domino's back, and the way his shoulders moved every time he took a step, and the way his waist occasionally wobbled back and forth, and the way his long purple hair fell over his shoulders and swayed behind him. He walked on with confidence…he was every bit as brave as he was when I first met him. He took no time in becoming my friend.

Three years ago I was all alone, with not a friend in the world. I was a target for bullies. They made fun of me and picked on me because I always wrote in my journals. Since a young age I've been blessed—and cursed—with a sort of identic memory. I could remember anything anyone says or does. So I wrote down my entire childhood in a set of journals. But the other kids didn't like me because of it. They were either out playing sports, hanging out with their _girlfriends _or _boyfriends_, or were the select few who chose to stay behind and torment me, reminding me every day that I wasn't like everyone else.

I'd like to see the looks on their faces if they saw where I was now. I grinned to myself, staring up at the star-filled sky in happiness. I was here in the realm between worlds, visiting places you'd only see in the movies—places no other Utopian has dared to go. And Domino made it all possible.

Thinking back on it, Domino was always the odd one in the school. He showed up one day without anyone questioning why he was even there. He sat towards the back of the class, he didn't get along with the other students, and, on occasion, he'd backtalk to the teacher just to earn himself a detention. He was really quiet when he wasn't arguing with the teacher. If anyone tried talking to him he'd stare blankly at them and refused to answer.

One day I got up my courage and walked up to him to start a conversation. He looked up at me and smiled. I was shocked. He'd never smile at any of the other students. I had asked him where he came from…and all he could tell me was that he was from another world. I asked him which world he had come from, but he said that he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember _anything_.

And the two of us became friends. I'd moved to the back of the classroom away from the other students so I can talk to Domino more often. In fact, when I was around him he'd never shut up. Mr. Brunner had always sent us straight to the office and we'd get detention quite frequently…but it was all worth it. I met an amazing person. He was always there for me.

And then, after a few months of hanging out, he said some very special words to me that I had never forgotten. "You and I will be together forever. You just watch!" Ah, his spontaneous and witty personality I've grown to love over the years never ceased to amaze me. But now…there was something different about him. He was the same old Domino, but he looked…more mature. He seemed to get sad, angry, stressed…when all he used to be was a happy kid.

I was shaken away from my thoughts when I bumped into the back of my purple-haired friend, noticing that the three ahead of me had stopped walking. "Sorry," I quickly said, backing away from Domino. Domino, Rika, and Asher had their eyes pointed towards the sky.

I looked up as well to see eight Gliders flying around in circles above us. Streams of both light and dark twisted and twirled out of the backs of their Gliders. The way they flew and made a spectacle in the sky was breathtaking—light and dark in perfect harmony.

One of the Gliders strayed from its circular path and nosedived towards us. Its rider wore black leather pants, a black leather jacket with a black t-shirt underneath. He wore a helmet with a dark visor covering his face. How could he see out of that thing? The Glider slowed down when it approached the crystalized road. The Glider vanished into light, the person riding it lightly falling to his feet.

"I knew we'd find you eventually," the person said with confidence. He put the both of his hands on the sides of the helmet and pulled it off, letting his spikey, pale violet hair bounce up and down as he shook his head to free himself from the sweat that I could see flying off each individual strand of hair. His silver eyes glistened in the light of the stars. His helmet vanished into light. "Domino."

"Damian!?" Domino's mouth widened in awe, his eyes nearly bulging out of head. _Damian_? "You're…you're here!?" Domino grabbed my hand and raised it into the air. "Kane, I'd like you to meet my older brother, Damian. He was born a year before me. He's the only one in my family not born as a twin or a triplet. He's a special case." He studied the Gliders above, and then back at his brother. "I don't understand though…I thought Diantha was the only one who got a Keyblade?"

"Oh, so you met up with Diantha?" Damian asked with a grin. "Where is she? Is she here? She left a couple of months ago to look for you." Domino lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with his older sibling. Diantha probably wasn't even alive right now. Destati's light was probably eating away at her soul. The eighteen-year-old's eyes widened. "Did something happen?"

"Want an honest truth?" Domino asked, finally looking Damian in the eyes. "I don't know where she is right now. I was with her, and then she left. That's the truth." _Well, he wasn't _lying_, but that wasn't the whole truth either_. "She's going to be alright though. She could be a great fighter. Now…let's see if you're ready to be out here on your own. Fight me!" _What was he doing!?_ Was he just trying to get Damian's mind off of Diantha? "Let's see who's stronger."

"Always with the competitions," Damian snickered, holding out his hand. In it appeared a Keyblade of his own. The guard and Keychain were rose-like, with thorns and roses that decorated it. The teeth of the blade seemed to look like claws of some monstrous beast. "Rumbling Rose!" Damian and Domino faced each other, Asher, Rika, and I stepping backwards to avoid being in the middle of this confrontation. "Remember when we were kids…the two of us would always compete over everything. Food, money, chores, girls…the occasional guy…now we can test our strength."

"You know Diantha always cheered me on," Domino retorted.

"Did not," Damian replied with a sinister-looking smirk. "If she were here now, she'd probably root for me. Am I right?" Domino jumped forward, slashing his hand through the air as Starlight appeared in it. Damian blocked the attack with his own Keyblade, kicking Domino in the stomach and making the younger brother jump backwards. "Always on the offense. You need to be a little more _defensive_ and maybe you'd win for once in your—"

"_Don't_ tell me how to fight, Damian," Domino snapped back. "I've gotten stronger over the past three years. You…you and Diantha just got Keyblades not that long ago, right?"

"Not just us," Damian replied. "Darius and Dominick also got their own Keyblades. But enough about them! Let's see who the stronger brother is!"

Damian leapt forward and performed an aerial slash towards Domino, who deflected the attack with Starlight. He swung his Keyblade low, hoping to hit his brother in the leg. Damian jumped over the swing, coming back down with Rumbling Rose. Domino quickly shot his hand up, grabbing the blade with his bare right hand. The claws cut through his skin, and I watched horrified as the bright red liquid, his _blood_, ran through his fingers and dripped down, staining the crystal road.

Gears turned in my mind. Memories triggered, crawling their way to the surface. It was eight months since I met Domino. We had started to hang out more frequently after school, but I had never taken him back to Kamikaze Home. It was that day that he showed me his magnificent Keyblade, Starlight. He said it symbolized the light at the end of the tunnel, and the promise of seeing the stars one day—up close. He had showed me his Keyblade Glider that day as well. He offered me a ride, but I was too afraid of getting on that thing. Good thing I didn't, too. After a few donuts through the air, he crashed into a window to someone's home. I guess it's no surprise as to whose house it was.

It was the Kamikaze Home, taken over by Ibiki Kamikaze. When Domino crash-landed, he held his hand out to shield his face from the glass. In the process he had gotten his hand scarred up, blood running down his fingers and dripping to the floor. He had almost crashed into a younger Kale. This was the moment he met Ibiki. Ibiki was both shocked at Domino's presence—and a little bit curious. Ibiki didn't know any Keybearers personally. At least I didn't think he did, anyway.

Ibiki bandaged up Domino's hand and showed his frustration towards the boy. And little Tara came in and yelled at Ibiki and Domino to quit screaming at each other. The way Tara blushed upon seeing Domino for the first time, I could tell she was probably in love with the guy. So she always pretended to hate him. Later that night I had met and invited Domino's parents over to the Kamikaze Home, where Domino, his parents, Ibiki, Tara, Kale, baby Ty, and I ate together at.

I looked back to Domino and Damian's battle, though no time had passed. Domino quickly released Rumbling rose held his bloody hand in front of his face, and a green light washed over it, the blood and scars disappearing in an instant. As Domino jumped forward with Starlight outstretched, Rika immediately began cheering for him, calling out stuff like "You rock!", "Show him who's boss!", and my personal favorite, "Make him bleed!"

Asher backed away until he stood behind me, making sure Domino and Damian wouldn't shop him to pieces in the crossfire. He whispered into my ear, "Do you hear that?" Those words sounded pretty ominous. I shrugged, raising an eyebrow as I tried to listen harder. I heard something then. It sounded like a thousand tiny claws scratching against metal, thousands of tiny little whispers that sounded like nothing but gibberish.

Rika stopped her cheering, her nose twitching as she looked into the black void above us. "I can't be the only one getting that weird feeling," she muttered, Darksouls instinctively appearing in her hand. In Asher's hand appeared his gun-blade. Domino and Damian traded one last blow with their Keys until they both halted, staring into each other's eyes.

"What's the matter?" Damian asked, walking closer to Domino. "In our battle, you began to slow down. What's wrong?"

Domino's nose twitched, and he muttered, "I smell…darkness. Everybody brace yourselves!" As soon as he yelled that, the crystalized road beneath us began to tremble as if something was shaking it from underneath. Rising from the black depths below the road came a giant, muscular black hand, grabbing onto the edge of the road. Another hand followed it, and the dreadlock-hair attached to a giant head rose up as well. "It's that giant heartless!"

"A Darkside!" I yelled. Asher looked at me rather angrily when I called the monster what Asher had called it back in Traverse Town. I felt something behind me. Whipping around, I saw the head of another Darkside rise opposite the first one. They had us surrounded on both sides of the road. "Two!?"

From the ground in a circle around us slithered out many Shadows and Neoshadows, all circling around us and staring at us with their beady yellow eyes. "I thought we got rid of every last one of them!" Asher screamed out. "Where are these things coming from!? What do they want?"

_"__The light,"_ Destati's voice whispered in my head._ "__They come from the darkness to take the light. They thrive on it. They devour it. Keep your hearts safe."_

What did she mean? I held my hand high above my head, and lightning rained down from invisible clouds above me, slamming into each Shadow and Neoshadow around us. They each vanished into darkness. But that wasn't enough. The claws of the Heartless rose from the ground and grabbed onto my legs, tugging me downward. A black portal of darkness appeared below me, sucking me into the darkness. My knees had just gone under. I couldn't fight it. I couldn't kick away. They had a strong hold on me. But then I felt the warm hand of Domino embrace my own. Looking up, I saw Domino try to pull me up, struggling against lots of Heartless that were tugging on my legs from below.

A Neoshadow had jumped at Domino from behind, but it was slashed in half by Darksouls. Rika jumped and twisted in the air, slashing Neoshadows that had surrounded her. Each of them disappeared. Asher flew into the air and had bullets of artificial light rain down upon the Heartless, getting rid of most of the Shadows and Neoshadows, but more and more kept appearing. It was a never-ending raid of Heartless.

Finally, Domino gained the strength to pull me up, and he did. I was pulled free from the Heartless' grasp. Suddenly surrounding Domino and I were other Heartless. A different kind of Heartless. It had a spherical body that was pitch black and streaked with dark blue. Its glowing, yellow eyes were rather small. The inside of its mouth was blue, and the mouth itself was a jagged, toothy opening. It had three thick, black and blue tentacles with frayed, pink tips sprouting out of its body, two on its top and one on its underside. These…_Darkballs_ each flew at us at once. We had no time to react.

Their jagged mouths closed around my arms, biting into my skin and drawing blood. I winced from the pain. Domino kept hacking and slashing the ones surrounding him, so they were unable to bite him. It took him a second to realize that there were seven Darkballs all clamping their jaws around my arms and legs. I tried swatting my arms and legs through the air to get rid of them, but they stayed clamped on, drawing more and more blood. I looked closely at one. It had as many rows of teeth as a _shark_ would have. And that's a lot.

Domino grabbed a Darkball with both of his hands and yanked it off, only to find that it wouldn't let go of me so easily. He stabbed it with Starlight, and it wailed like a dog, vanished into darkness. He did the same with the rest that covered my arms and legs. When they were all gone, I fell to my knees into the small puddle of blood that was created by the blood that ran down my arms and legs. Holding a hand out, Domino Cured me. I stood up. But they just kept coming.

Shadows, Neoshadows, Darkballs, and even two more Darksides rose from the dark depths. I thought all hope was lost. All four Darksides began to slam their fists simultaneously into the crystalized road. _Wouldn't that destroy the road_? Before they could, I saw something white shining in the sky. As it flew forward, I noticed that it was that comet I had seen earlier, as well as the one from my dream. It flew inches away from my face, blasting towards the black void on the opposite side of where it had just come from.

Each of the Heartless cocked their heads to the comet in the sky. The comet…it made me feel happy again, rejuvenated, as if all of my sorrows had gone with the wind. I thought I could see the black, silhouetted outline of a person on the inside of the comet. The comet vanished into the unknown. The Darksides each sunk back into the depths below, followed by the Shadows and Neoshadows. The Darkballs flew away from the road and towards the unknown where the comet had vanished. Destati, who had somehow spoken in my mind, was right. They were attracted to the light. And the light from within that comet had just saved us.

"What was that?" Rika asked. _Finally someone sees it_.

"Is it over?" Damian asked. I hadn't realized it, but he spent the whole battle doing barely anything to the Heartless. At once, everyone dismissed their Keyblades. It made me feel a little weird, being the only one here who didn't have a Keyblade. Damian made a Glider appear beneath his feet and he said, "Domino, I'm going back home to tell the folks that you're alright. Maybe we can send out a search party for Diantha. Hey, where are Mom and Dad?"

Domino lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he said, a genuine tear trickling down his cheek. "But they passed away a while back."

Damian lowered his head in a moment of silence, and then his mouth broke out into a grin. "I know they'll rest in peace knowing that their kids all have Keys of their own to protect themselves! Well, I've gotta get going. I'll see ya when I see ya." And then Damian took off, vanishing beyond the sky on his way home.

"So we're off again?" I asked the rest of the gang.

"Yep," Domino replied, and he and Rika began walking off together. "We've gotta reach for the stars! Let's go to every one!" Asher quickly followed them, followed by me.

Asher lifted up his cell phone and answered it. I hadn't even heard it ring. He answered with, "Hello?" How could he get calls in, well, outer space!? He hung up his phone and looked at the ground grimly. I was about to ask what was the matter, but he quickly said, "Lucina just called. She tried taking over as leader of the Hunters, but Ibiki forbade it. He has a more elite commanding officer taking over my role as we speak. He's far less forgiving. And according to her, this commanding officer is suspicious. He doesn't think we're dead as Lucina said."

I suddenly felt a splitting headache, unlike anything I've ever felt before. The world felt like it was spinning around me. My head felt like it was burning up. My vision became white. I could only see the black silhouetted outlines of my three friends walking ahead of me, unaware of what I was going through at that moment. I suddenly saw several people surrounding me, flying around me in circles. I heard the shouts of Asher, Rika, and Domino coming closer to me as I realized they were running towards me, trying to help me out.

It was useless. In an instant, my whole world turned black. I was unconscious.

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**How'd you like the chapter? Sorry for the cliffhanger, haha. Next chapter will be out either later in the week or next weekend. Also, I just realized that so far every one of Domino's siblings has a D beginning their name. I didn't realize with Diantha, or even with Damian, but I realized it when I mentioned his two other brothers. Anyway, see ya next time!**


	17. Can't Hold Us

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. I know I might have said my updates will be slowed…but I couldn't stop typing this chapter. So…here it is. I hope you like it! I don't have much to say in this author's note so…read on!**

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**Can't Hold us**

I felt like I hit the ground. My hand was clawing the steel floor below me. I shakily stood up to my feet and looked around. I was surrounded by four steel walls and a large steel roof a couple of yards above my head. From it dripped water, hitting the floor, the sound echoing off of the walls. That sound would've driven anyone in the room insane. Speaking of, I _did_ see someone in the room. Leaning against the wall furthest from me was…Dante Netherwood, his arms crossed and a smug smile laid across his face.

"Well, wouldja look at that," Dante said, standing up straight and walking towards me. "Seems they grabbed the wrong person."

"What are _you_ doing here?" I asked at him, stepping towards him and glaring into his cruel eyes. "Where are we?"

"I would like to know that myself," Dante replied, staring up at the ceiling above us. "I've been here…what? Three days? Maybe a whole week? I was headed towards my homeworld when…everything went white. And here I am…but _you're_ not supposed to _be_ here. Did they forget what Domino looked like, or what?"

"Who are _they_?" I asked, getting more confused by the minute. Who could've sent us here? And what did they want?

"I don't know much myself," Dante said, flexing his arms in the air and stretching. "There were these guys…maybe six of them? They surrounded me while I was on my Glider…and I woke up here. I can't use my Keyblade." He held his hand out, but nothing appeared within it. "See? I'm useless. I don't even have the darkness on my side today. Or however long I've been here. But one thing's for certain…we can't escape. I've tried everything. Can someone please _let me the fuck out_!?" After that outburst, he twisted his body around and flung himself at the wall, kicking it harshly. No dent was left. "Come on!" He punched the wall in anger.

In a swirling portal of light in the center of the room appeared a shadowy figure. Whenever the light vanished, the black silhouette gained color. Lying on his back was Robin Cale…Six. He still was shirtless since their last encounter. He pushed himself off of the floor and bent over, panting.

"They gave up a pretty nice fight," he said through scattered breaths. He looked around the room, his face brightening when he saw me. "Kane? What are you—" Taking one last look around the room, he sighed. "—doing here?" He almost looked sad to see me confined along with him. He then seemed to notice Dante for the first time. He was leaning against the wall as before. "You…"

The two held eye contact for a few seconds. I could feel a little tension in the room. Scratching the back of my head, I backed away from them as they walked towards one another, stopping until they were face-to-face.

"One of the ones who will bring about the end of all worlds with that infuriating light of his…what a surprise running into you," Dante said with a smirk. Did he know Six personally? Yeah, they were from the same world and both went to Utopia to seal its barrier, but these two held mixed emotions in their eyes as they glared daggers at one another. "I see they're rounding up each one of us, one by one. Kane just happened to get in between them and Domino. Also…how's the back?"

Six jumped. I looked at Six's bare back and saw the six vertical scars going across his back's midsection. I remembered seeing them when his shirt ripped on the Titanic cruise. Six looked to the ground and said, "Dante…why did you have to choose such a dark road? You had a heart of gold…you fought for justice. You were my hero." _What_? Six rubbed his back and continued, "Thank you for saving my life…but that doesn't mean anything if you're on the side of darkness."

"What did you mean he saved your life?" I asked Six.

The two held each other's gaze once more…they looked around the same age, twenty-one. Six finally answered with, "It was back before the Keyblade even existed." I raised an eyebrow. "I was nine years old. I was targeted by a group of bullies…they were all older, maybe twelve. Thirteen, at the most. The leader of that group had his lackeys pin me down on my stomach, and with a knife their leader carved into my back…six times. He was so vicious…so _evil_…so_dark_. He was about to slit my throat…Dante Netherwood, a kid I didn't really know much of, had pulled the boy away. He took my hand…and the two of us ran as fast as we could. He got help and I was alright…I lost quite a bit of blood, but I was alright. Dante was my hero…we became good friends."

I didn't know someone of the dark like Dante could do such a great deed like that. He became Six's hero. I now understood why he had those six carvings on his back…Dante saved him from a lot worse. But the two were obviously headed down completely different roads. They were both good people at heart, but one headed down a road of light and one walked a path of darkness. It almost made me sad…were Domino and I to end up the same way?

"People change," I told Six immediately after his story. "He chose the darkness over the light. But he isn't _evil_."

Six shouted out, "People who ally with the dark wish to swallow every world within the blackest abyss!"

"People who ally with the light wish to burn every world in its harsh rays, leaving nothing left," Dante snapped back. "The sooner you realize that, the sooner I will accept you as a friend again. The light is despicable. Now will someone get us outta this damn place!?" He kicked the wall again, this time much harder, the room seemingly shaking. "I can't take this. Isn't someone ever going to come and at least explain _where_ is it I even am?"

"Okay, calm down," I said. "We'll escape somehow. These people _can't hold us_. I had decided it was my time to take charge. I always let other people take charge because they were always older than me. Even so, I needed to make sure these two didn't kill each other over which side, the light or the dark, was better. I squeezed myself in between the two, making the both of them back away from one another. I studied the air around us. The scent in the air smelled rather like…fresh water? I could faintly smell flowers…roses—no—cherry blossoms, to be exact. I held my hand out and allowed the dripping water from above to land on it, the coolness of the water sending shivers up my spine. Bringing my hand to my face, I sniffed it, and then licked it off.

I was…astonished. It made me feel better. Like nothing I had ever felt before. Or maybe I had felt it before. I felt rejuvenated…like how I felt whenever Domino and I took a swim in that lake when we were in that empty world. And that lake smelled and felt the same as the Lake of Destiny. The _Lake of Destiny_…could it be possible? I stood underneath the steadily dripping water, looking upwards and letting the cool water drip onto my forehead, a stream of water leaking from in between my eyes, down my nose, and onto the floor beneath me.

It _had_ to be the Lake of Destiny! Were we…underneath it? And if so, how low beneath the surface of the lake _were_ we? Who was keeping us here, and for what reason? According to Dante, whoever they were wanted Keybearers…and they had grabbed me instead of Domino. What did they want with us though? Suddenly, the ground beneath us started shaking and a portal of light…artificial light…appeared in the center of the room, right in front of me.

When the light vanished, a man stood there. He wore a gray trench coat that was buttoned up all the way. The top of it covered his mouth and looked similar to a turtleneck. His hair was long and gray, going passed his shoulders in the front and going to his waist in the back. A bang covered his left eye, but his right eye was visible. His eye color was a cold blue color. Barely visible from underneath the trench coat were boots. He wore a white ring on each ring finger and middle finger. He wore a white earring on his left ear. He had tucked his hair behind the left ear so his earring would be clearly visible.

"Who are you?" I asked, clenching my fists at the man before me.

The man who looked to be eighteen chuckled in a rather deep voice, his mouth not visible beneath the turtleneck. "I'm the supreme commander of the Keyblade Hunters." Hearing about the Hunters sent shivers down my spine. This was the guy they replaced Asher with? The man stared at me with his icy blue eye. "My name is Pierce." He squinted his visible eye at me, looking harder as if to study my looks. "Why must I be the only _smart _one in the Hunters? You are clearly not Domino. Ah, you must be Kane, Domino's friend. All the better, I'd say."

"You're a Keyblade Hunter!?" Six yelled in surprise.

"Where are we!?" Dante shouted out, holding out a totally nonthreatening hand out at Pierce. "What do you want with us!?"

"I'm here to oversee the extermination of the Keybearing race," Pierce said rather menacingly. "I cannot trust these steel walls that those other _idiots_ built, so I can't allow your entire race to band together and break down these walls. So I'll exterminate the three of you _now _instead of waiting for the others of your kind to show up. How does that sound?"

"It sounds cruel," Six snapped back. "Killing us because we have Keyblades? That sounds heartless to me."

"Prepare for ultimate extermination," Pierce said loudly, jumping to the air and back-flipping out of the center of the room towards one of the back walls. As he landed, he snapped his fingers, and a circle opened up where the water was dripping from. In less than a second, a geyser of water shot downward from the hole in the ceiling. I jumped out of the way right before it slammed into the floor. "I won't be seeing you again." In a flash of light, Pierce vanished.

"What the hell?" Dante asked as the water rushed passed my legs and hit each side of the walls. In less than a minute the water had already risen passed my knees. I looked to Six and Dante for words of wisdom or any help at all, but they looked as shocked and scared as I was. They didn't have their Keyblades or any special abilities anymore. Lifting my arm into the air, I realized I could summon any magic. We were all useless, about to drown. _Ironic_, wasn't it? We were about to be drowned in water that's supposed to heal someone. Just my luck.

I pressed my back against the wall to my left in utter hopelessness. I sunk down, my butt hitting the ground softly, and as I sat down the water had risen above my shoulders. Before now, I had never really realized what hopelessness had even felt like. But there was no way I could escape this place. I was about to be drowned along with Six and Dante. The three of us were unable to do anything at all.

"Kane, we'd really like some help!" Dante screamed out.

"What can I do!?" I asked back.

Dante smirked and said, "Well, Robin fights for the light. And I chose to ally with Domino of all people. Kane, you can't possibly be any dumber than us."

Suddenly, appearing in the air was a portal of darkness and from it appeared a girl. She floated inches above the water. She was wearing a black and white cloak that reached her ankles, the hood over her head to hide her face. She was around four feet tall, so she was most likely young. Black hair fell from the hood to her waist. This was the same girl that had posed as Auron's sister back in the Underworld. What was she doing here? That's right! She was a Keybearer from Utopia!

"It's you!" I yelled at her. "Did you get kidnapped as well!?" I stood up as soon as the water went over my mouth while I sat. I stood on my tiptoes to make sure the water didn't get closer to my head.

"Kidnapped?" the girl asked. "Please. Nobody could kidnap me." She lowered her hood, revealing her light skin and her hypnotic, deep brown eyes. Her hair fell behind her to reach her waist. She looked to be around ten years old. Her cloak billowed in a nonexistent wind beneath her. "Call me Jazz. Now let's get you guys out of here." She held a hand out towards the wall that Dante backed into, and a dark portal appeared on the wall. The darkness within the portal vanished, and all that was left was a hole in the wall leading to a small corridor on the other side.

"You're helping us?" Six asked. "You have…a heart of darkness. What's in it for you?"

"Without you guys, the war will be boring," Jazz smirked. "Plus, I'd like to break your bones and smash your skulls myself." Those words gave me goose-bumps. I waded through the cool water, and Six, Dante, and I walked through the hole in the wall. For some reason, the water didn't go through the hole. Jazz flew in after us, and as she entered the corridor with us, the hole behind her closed and became the steel wall like normal.

Lifting a hand into the air, I sent a vortex of wind swirling around Six, Dante, and I, making any wet clothing completely dry. Jazz fell to her feet and clapped her hands. "Very well done, for someone who doesn't even own a Keyblade," the girl said, chuckling as she walked ahead of us. "They call this security? I was able to get here with two hands behind my back." She grinned wickedly. "Ladies, we're in the Keyblade Hunters' stronghold."

The corridor was made of steel like the room they were just in. The only difference was that the walls were lined with tall candlesticks, illuminating the place. Several doors were lined up along each wall, probably leading to a variety of different rooms.

"We have to find a way out of here," I told the other three, stepping ahead of Jazz and beginning to walk down the corridor. I would have gone further, but a man appeared in front of me out of artificial light. He held a sword to me, the tip lightly pressed against my neck. "Uh…hi there."

"Shut up," the man replied. He wore the standard cloak of a Hunter, hiding his face behind a white hood. "I'll get lotsa munny for killing you off when our new commander couldn't. I'll be the new commander. I'm much better than Pierce!" Without warning, I saw a set of fingers wrap around the man's throat and squeeze as hard as they could. And the man exploded into light, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The person who had done that was behind the man. He wore a cloak belonging to the Keyblade Hunters as well, his face hidden in the shadows beneath his hood. Had he just taken out one of his own members? He held a finger up to his hooded face and whispered, "Shh." He pointed to the door nearest to us, and he quietly walked up to his and wrapped his hand around the doorknob, slowly opening it. All at once, he swung it open, jumping into the room. There were four white flashes coming from the inside of the room.

I had to figure out what was going on. I rushed inside of the room to see the man standing there in an empty computer room. The computer was large and took up half of the room. A rolling chair was in front of it, its wings lightly spinning as if someone had just gotten off of that chair. There were definitely people in this room…well, at least before. Now they were gone…like that last man who had almost shoved his sword into my throat.

"And who do you think you are?" Dante asked loudly to the man who simply sat down on the chair, turned himself towards the computer, and began vigorously typing on the keyboard.

"He has a heart of darkness," Jazz said, smiling. "I can read his heart loud and clear. He's not even a part of the Hunters. He's also from Utopia, like the rest of us."

"Is that true?" Six asked at the man who didn't look away from the computer screen. "And how did you get rid of those other Hunters?"

The man sitting at the computer held his hand out as if to shut us up. In a quiet voice he whispered, "They're not dead. I do not kill unless absolutely necessary. I merely sent them away for a while." He dismissed us with a wave of his hand and continued typing on the computer, several boxes appearing on the screen and red text flashing everywhere. He then whispered to himself, "Come on, Ibiki, where did you put that data?"

"What are you doing?" I asked, walking up to the man. He still did not look up at me.

"Ibiki has his entire master plan somewhere hidden within this CPU's data," the man replied. "It took me weeks but I'm finally able to access the Main Access Terminal. If I can find out his plans and courses of action, I can prevent them. I know he aims towards the destruction of the Keyblade. But if he destroys both Keyblades of darkness and light, there'll be nothing left for me to stand for. I need the dark to survive…I need to destroy that insignificant light."

"So you really are a dark user," Dante muttered in awe at the man. "Are you aware of Domino's plan then?"

"I need to finish up my work before I go and help anyone else," the man replied quickly, typing up a few words before a new document popped up on the screen. In big white text upon a gray background read **_KH MASTER DATA TERMINAL._** "I've found it." On the document, almost every word typed up by Ibiki was another link that probably led somewhere else in his _master plan_.

"Can you tell us who you are?" I asked rather rudely. The man shoved a black, rectangular device into a slot on the side of the computer. After typing a few words and clicking a few buttons, he waited a minute before removing it. "What did you do?"

"I downloaded his data," the man replied, standing up in triumph. "I've done it. I have to bring it back to my home and show it to the rest of the dark-wielders." He tried to walk to the door, but I stood in between him and the doorway. "Yes?"

"Who are you?" I said with more power in my voice. I was done sitting on the sidelines. I needed to assert myself better. I needed to know who this guy was.

And the man ripped off his cloak, the Keyblade Hunter outfit falling to the ground lightly.

The man before me had brown hair about three inches at the bangs but cut shorter as it reached the back of his head, which he kept swept at a downward angle. His eyes were a dark brown as well. He wore an old leathered outfit including boots and gloves, and he kept his shirt sleeveless. Tied around his waist was a belt, and from it hung several charms shaped like stars, X's, and one shaped like a Keyhole in the front like a belt buckle. Tied around his neck and falling behind him to his ankles was a brown leathery cape.

The man looked down at me and replied, "My name is Lián Itzal. I'll show the four of you out. After that, get as far as you can away from the Hunters. We can't allow ourselves to lose any soldiers just yet."

"Soldiers?" I asked. Lián pushed himself passed me and walked out the door. Taking the initiative, I reached forward and grabbed the man's wrist before he could get too far. Lián looked down at me, but refrained himself from speaking. "Is that all we are? A bunch of soldiers in a war?"

"We're all destiny's pawns," Lián muttered, clutching a fist in front of his face. "This war between the dark and the light has to happen. The dark will prevail. The dark was the deity that created every world out there. People are made to mirror that darkness. And so I have confidence that once this war is over, the dark can finally eclipse all worlds. Light…it is an abomination. I'll see you on the battlefield." Breaking free from my grip, he dashed out of the room entirely, his cape flying behind him.

"Let's go!" Jazz yelled out, flying after Lián as quickly as she could, darkness trailing behind her feet as she soared through the air and out the door. "You guys need to escape so we can have _soldiers_ for this _war_."

"Right ahead of you, sister!" Dante shouted towards her, running out of the room himself to follow the other two _Seekers of Darkness_.

"Why is it that we need to rely on dark users like them to get out of here?" Six asked, rubbing his back slowly. "But…at least they're helping us get out of here nonetheless. Kind souls…but dark, dark hearts." Six slowly walked out of the room. I followed him out and the two of us then quickly dashed to catch up with the other three who had approached a dead-end in the corridor. "Now what?"

"I've got it," Lián said. He put all ten of his fingers on the wall ahead of us as if it were a keyboard, and typed in a type of combination. Suddenly, the wall lit up with light, and when the light vanished, the wall was gone and on the inside was a small looking room with a nice looking carpet and buttons lined around the walls. "The elevator out."

"You expect me to use an elevator?" Jazz remarked, showing a look of distaste across her face. She shook her head and sighed while saying, "How'd you think I got in here in the first place?"

"How _did _you get here?" I asked, curious myself. That room they were going to drown us in was supposed to cut off all powers, but Jazz floated above the water just fine. And how did she even get in there to start off with?

"What can I say?" she replied cockily. "I'm stronger than most Keybearers."

Lián stepped into the elevator and said, "If you don't hurry out of here, they'll find you and toss you back in. Now are you guys coming or not?"

"Fine," Jazz grumbled, crossing her arms with immature anger as she stomped into the elevator. Dante followed her in with Six close behind him. I walked in as well, and the wall materialized behind me.

Lián imputed some kind of code into the wall, and the room around us shook as if we were moving. In less than a second the wall were we entered the elevator through had flashed white and once it vanished we saw the outside. Suddenly excited to see Utopia again, I dashed out the open doorway and my feet landed on the brink pavement. Things looked…different, to say the least.

The buildings looked rustier and _older_, as if these buildings never got any new paintjobs for the past hundred years. I looked behind me. The building I had just come out of was the right side of the Kamikaze Home. My eyes and mouth widened in astonishment. Had that base for the Keyblade Hunters always been underneath the Kamikaze Home? Not even a few yards away was the bridge…I was almost certain that wasn't where it was last time. Underneath it was…the lake of destiny.

Forgetting about the other four who had just walked out of the elevator, I rushed onto the bridge and looked over it. There were hundreds of houses floating in pieces on the top of an endless sea all around. Had the Lake of Destiny always been this huge? "Look at what Domino has done," Six said in awe next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder as if he needed support to stand up. I thought I could smell smoke in the air. The water below looked almost brown. "I should've never trusted him."

"Domino caused all of this carnage?" Jazz asked, floating passed me and landing with her feet on the rim of the long bridge. "It smells of destruction and ruin. Doesn't it make you feel good?"

"There could be so many dead bodies down below," Dante muttered with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And yet I'm still working with Domino."

"Get used to this place," Lián muttered, crossing his arms while he stood behind the four of us. "It'll take a while before this place is as beautiful as it used to be." He paused for a moment before yelling, "Look out!"

Suddenly surrounding all five of us were around twenty Keyblade Hunters, all pointing long swords menacingly at us. Lián, Jazz, Dante, Six, and I were now standing in a small circle with all of these swords pointed at us. It was clear we couldn't get out of this. Two of the Hunters in front of me parted to reveal Pierce standing in between them. He revealed his long silver sword that use used to poke me in the nose with.

"Itzal, how sad it is to see a fellow member betray his own," Pierce said in a clearly fake sympathetic tone.

"I was never a part of you guys!" Lián snapped back.

"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" Pierce asked, sneering at us. "Fellow Hunters, kill the lot of them. I don't want any of these Keybearers alive. As for him…" He pointed a pinky finger at me. "Kill him as well." The man withdrew his sword and stepped back and allowed the two who were in front of me before go back into their positions.

Suddenly, surrounding the ring of Hunters that surrounded us was…another ring of hunters. Each of these had their hood down, showing off a variety of faces. The Hunters around us stared at the ones surrounding them, each point a threatening sword at one another. _What was going on here_?

From beyond all of the Hunters, standing right behind Pierce, was Lucina. She held a long sword up to the back of Pierce's neck. "What is the meaning of this?" Pierce asked angrily, not daring to move. "Are you defying our Organization?"

"These Hunters that I command are more than just faceless soldiers forced to kill and take Keyblades away," Lucina said, holding out an arm to either side of her as she smiled towards the sky. "They are still loyal to Asher and I, and we don't threaten their lives like you do." Pierce growled. "Wait until Ibiki finds out that you're attempting to kill the Keybearers without his permission."

"Wait until Ibiki finds out that you have just turned traitor against us," Pierce snapped back. "Hunters, leave the Keybearing peasants! Go after the unfaithful and ungrateful Hunters who dare defy our superiority!" With a snap of his fingers, each of his Hunters jumped away from us and began combat with the ones that Lucina commanded, clashing swords with one another, not a one of them backing down.

Lucina smiled over to me and said, "Kane, I'm sorry I couldn't try hard enough to become commander…Pierce was just too high up to knock back down." She readied her sword and swung it in front of her, clashing her sword with Pierce's that he had just swung at her with. They each held their ground. "Pierce, you're the one who's traitorous! Attempting to eliminate the Keybearing warriors without consulting him! Where _is_ Ibiki?"

"That's none of your information," Pierce spat back, slamming his foot into Lucina's torso and causing the girl to stumble backwards.

"Where is he, Pierce," Lucina demanded, jumping forward while slamming down her sword. Pierce blocked it by swinging his sword above him. Lucina landed her feet on the ground and kept her ground against Pierce once more. "You don't know, do you?"

"Ibiki said he was going somewhere!" Pierce yelled out.

"_Where_, Pierce?" Lucina said with more power emanating off of her voice.

"He said he was going somewhere," Pierce said back. "He didn't say where."

"When did he say it?"

"Right after that _Dark Lord_ he speaks highly of was supposed to perish back in the world where Enix once resided!" Pierce finally yelled out. "But he's still alive. The war will still come if he isn't dead. I'm doing this so Ibiki doesn't find out that Asher screwed up."

"Did someone say my name?" a voice echoed off of the walls. I almost laughed. I _totally_ saw this coming. Flying from the sky in a white beam of light was Phoenix Asher, a comet-tail of light streaming behind him as he nosedived forward. He repositioned himself so his feet pointed downward, and he slammed his feet right into Pierce's gut, sending the man flying until he hit the wall of the side of the bridge. Asher landed on his own two feet and gave me two thumbs up. I chuckled. "I once attempted to obliterate the light and destroy the darkness…but now I shall help unite them! Phoenix Asher is here! Now gather under _my _name, you fool!"

Pierce scrambled to his feet and pointed his sword at Asher, though the latter didn't seem afraid in the slightest. He seemed overly confident. Asher shouted out, "Fellow Hunters that ally with Commander Pierce over there! Do you really want him to be your dictator, to tell you how worthless you are? Or do you want to stand tall and prove yourselves!?" Each of Pierce's followers looked at one another in confusion as if they didn't know quite what to do. "Follow me and I'll _make _you somebody. You guys _are _people, no matter what Pierce says!"

As if on cue, each of the Hunters that served Pierce removed their hoods, revealing a variety of faces. Each of their eyes went from looks of confusion to ones of determination. The ones originally commanded by Pierce stood together as one with the ones Lucina had brought out. Asher and Lucina stood side-by-side as they stared down Pierce.

"This isn't over!" Pierce yelled. "I'm sounding the alarm! You aren't allowed to leave Utopia!" Pierce dashed away from the bridge but before he could reach Kamikaze Home, he was slammed into by two streaks of darkness, one coming from his back and one from his front. Before Pierce could fall over, Domino stood behind him and grabbed hold of his arms while Rika stood in front of him, kicking him in the gut and allowing Domino to drop the man. Pierce fell to his knees. "The Dark Lord has come, it seems."

"Glad we're not too late," Rika said with confidence.

"Hey, Kane, we're here," Domino called to me.

"How did you three know to help out?" I asked.

Asher quickly responded, "We saw you being abducted by a few Hunters. I knew right away, after what Lucina had said on the phone, that this was Pierce's doing. We came here as fast as we could. Are you guys alright?"

Jazz laughed and said, "Okay, this has been fun, but I need to leave. My work here is done." She pointed to me and Six and said, "Just because I saved your sorry asses does _not _mean I'm soft, alright? When the time comes I'll crush you myself." She sunk into the shadows below, vanishing into darkness.

Dante looked to the sky and said, "I was interrupted from my quest…I must go. I need to see someone. Domino, until we meet again." Into a portal of darkness, Dante vanished from sight.

Lián Itzal jumped into the air and underneath his feet appeared his own Keyblade Glider. He saluted to all of us and shouted out, "As with those other two, I have to head out and show my discovery with the rest back home! It's been a pleasure meeting you, and I hope that you become worthy adversaries on the battlefield!" He flew off into the sky and vanished behind the dark clouds.

As with everybody else, I expected Six to leave as well, but he stood by me. He looked to me and winked.

Pierce kneed Rika in the stomach and dashed away from her and back onto the bridge. His meaty fists grabbed a hold of Lucina's neck and he hovered her above the ground, stepping closer to the edge of the bridge and preparing to drop her into the harsh waters below.

"Lucina!" Asher shouted out, rushing towards Pierce with his Keyblade outstretched. Without much thinking, he shoved his gun-blade into Pierce's back, staining his clothes red with blood that dripped to the ground. Pierce gasped, blood running down his lower lip. He let go of Lucina, who vanished and reappeared to the side of Pierce. She then proceeded to shove her own sword into his side. Pierce groaned out in pain. "This is what you get, you bastard. Nobody messes with my friends."

That meant a lot to hear from Asher, that we were his friends. Asher removed his Keyblade from the man's back, Lucina doing the same with her sword, and Pierce whipped around to look Asher in the eyes. "You may have the entire legion of Hunters fooled, Phoenix," Pierce grumbled, coughing with every word. "But Ibiki's a smart man. He will find out this little game you're playing. I'm just sad I won't be here to see him take his wrath out…on you." Utterly defeated, the man fell over backwards, toppling off of the edge of the bridge and falling to the water below. A splash was heard seconds later, followed by a small white explosion down in the deep. Pierce had died.

Asher and Lucina embraced each other in a tight hug. Six smiled and put a hand on my shoulder while gently saying, "Looks like things will calm down over here. I don't need to stay and see what happens anymore. We'll see each other again. I'm going explore more worlds. See you later, Kane." He grabbed my hand and shook it slowly, vanishing into a pink light before my eyes. My hands grabbed air. Six had left.

"Kane!" Domino yelled, running over to me and grabbing me in a tight hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm so very sorry!" I returned the hug.

Each of the Hunters on the bridge shouted out in joy, pumping their fists into the air as if they had just won a war. But this was only one of the battles of many. The war has yet to come. Asher looked to Lucina and said, "Let's work together to make the Keyblade Hunters great. Then maybe we can take down Ibiki once and for all."

"I'll do that," Lucina said, putting both of her hands on Asher's shoulders. "You go out and visit the worlds with Domino and Rika and Kane…you deserve a break."

"What about you?" Asher asked back.

"Don't worry, I've got things under control," Lucina replied with a soft smile. "Pierce was lying before…he hadn't even asked Ibiki to take your place. So I'll do the same. I'm the official commander from now on." Asher nodded and looked to Domino, Rika, and I. "So you four are leaving now?"

"We are now," Domino said. He looked around. "It pains me to see this place like this. Let's go." Rika and Domino summoned their Keyblade Gliders, and I hopped on the back of Domino's.

Asher kissed Lucina on the forehead and said, "I'll see you later, Lucina."

With that being said, Domino, Rika, and I blasted towards the sky, Asher following slowly behind in the form of a white comet made of his artificial light. I was glad to be amongst my friends. Nothing was better than this. Nothing.

**.**

**Did you like this chapter? I hope you did! I'll see you in the next one...whenever that might be. Ugh, I decided to name all of these chapters after songs and it is SOOOO hard to find a song title that matches the chapter, so...this title, Can't Hold Us, means that...the Keyblade Hunters couldn't hold them there any longer or...something I don't know. Anyway, see ya!**


	18. Nothing's Forever

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Nothing's Forever**

Nothing could've been worse than this. Nothing. For twelve straight hours on the road in between the worlds I've heard nothing but constant arguing from my three friends. Domino and Asher would go at it like siblings in a heated argument and Rika would always try to calm the two down but to no avail. We were barely making any progress. For a whole two hours I had to sit back or lay down on the uncomfortable crystallized ground below me whilst plugging my ears and humming one of my favorite tunes to drown out the three's senseless arguing. I had completely lost track of time. Did the realm in between worlds even have a flow of time?

What were Domino and Asher even arguing about? I hadn't even bothered to remember what started this fight. Asher said some things, Domino retaliated, and they've been going off and on for forever. I should have known that traveling together would have been a bad idea from the get-go. Domino stomped his foot childishly, marching away from Asher and crossing his arms, looking off into the distance angrily. I went up to Asher to ask what was going on between those two, but he refused to answer me and looked the opposite way, staring out into the open space.

Rika got bored with the two of them and casually swung her Darksouls through the air, dark energy sparking as the blade sliced through the cold air of space.

I wished things could be better. I didn't know who or what to pray to exactly…I just wanted things to be better. I clutched my heart, feeling a sudden pain wash over me. I wanted things to be simpler. I wanted it to be just the four of us again…me, Domino, Tara, and Kale. Back when things were simple and clean. Nothing could've been better. I felt a tear escape my eye. I hadn't ever realized how truly heart-wrenching it was to lose not only Tara but to say goodbye to Kale as well. I slowly muttered under my breath, "Please make things better. Please."

I closed my eyes. For a full minute, I sensed nothing. Domino's voice broke the eerie silence. "Uh, Kane?" My eyes snapped open. I followed his, Asher's, and Rika's gaze passed my head. Turning around, my eyes were temporarily blinded by a shining column of light standing at eight feet tall before me. Reaching my hand out, my hand passed harmlessly through the light. I felt a sudden warmth as if everything was going to be alright. I felt calm and…happy. I smiled. Had something just answered my prayer? Without warning the others, I stepped into the light, the other three calling after me.

I lost track of my surroundings. I couldn't tell where I was. When the light died down, I was surrounded by pitch blackness. I felt myself lying on my back, a blanket on the lower half of my body with some of it on the floor. A soft pillow lay under my head. I was in a bed? I reached my hand out and felt a string which I then pulled. A light illuminated to my right. It was coming from a small lamp that was on a desk to the side of my bed. My satchel was on the floor next to the table and my journal was lying open underneath the light of the lamp, a small quill dipped in ink on top of it, a bottle of ink to the side.

I took a look at my surroundings. A bookshelf was lining every wall, filled with various novels and manga. A TV sat on a table in the corner of the room straight ahead of the bed. A pile of DVD cases and videogame cases were scattered in front of the television. Hooked up to the TV was a PlayStation 2 with my favorite game of all time, Key of Destiny, inside.

I hung my legs over the side of my bed and allowed my bare feet to hit the shaggy carpet covering the wooden floor. I yawned loudly. How long had I been asleep? I scratched my head, feeling how messy my hair felt, and I slowly stood up. A ringing sound echoed off of my eardrums. I slapped my ear to get rid of it. Looking around one last time, I realized I was in my bedroom back in Utopia. I was in Kamikaze Home.

I made my way to the door on the side of my television and wrapped my fingers around the doorknob, twisting it and opening the door. After stepping through, a strong scent infiltrated my nostrils. Not a bad scent, either. It smelled like…chicken.

I walked down the hallway outside my bedroom, running my hand along the wall as I walked. I stepped into a kitchen. The scent was strongest here. The table in the center was neatly made, plates set up with juicy looking chicken on each plate, a glass of the blue Sea-Salt soda next to each plate. Standing over a stove and frying another pot of chicken was a girl, her brown hair tied up professionally so that no hair went below her shoulders. When she heard me take another step, she turned towards me and stared at me with those blue orbs of hers. It couldn't be! I took a step back.

"You're awake," the tan-skinned girl said, walking over to me and wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace. Her hair made her over a foot taller than me; I had always complained at how the thirteen-year-old was taller than me in the first place, but this really bugged me. But I was too stunned to say anything. She released me, gazing into my eyes once more. "What's wrong, Kane? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Maybe I _was_ seeing a ghost. I wasn't sure how this was even possible. Tara Skye had died back in Salem…she _shouldn't _be here. The ringing in my ears was back. I decided not to worry about it.

"You've been sleeping all morning," she said, turning her back to me and working on the chicken once more. I couldn't believe I was able to see her again, to hear her soothing voice, to feel the radiance she gave off. She was like a sister to me. She looked back to me and smiled. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Tara," I muttered, almost surprised to hear the name escaping my lips. I didn't think I'd ever have to say her name again. Domino and I had a silent agreement not to mention her so the both of us wouldn't dwell on the past. Yet here she was…in the flesh. "How—"

"I know what you must be thinking," she said, walking away from the stove and sitting at the table. She looked up at me and smiled. "It must be weird seeing me like this." _I'll say_, I thought. She rubbed her cheeks and said, "I normally wait until the summer to tan." My heart nearly skipped a beat. I had thought she was actually going to say that she came back from the dead. Oh well. "How do I look?"

_Not dead!_ Feeling my breathing grow rapid I muttered, "Tara…what day is it?" I wasn't sure if I was right. I could've been dreaming about all of this. Pinching myself didn't help.

Tara darted her eyes to the side as if to think, and she responded with, "It's the first of September." My heart dropped.  
"Tomorrow you'll start school, remember? Today's freshman orientation, I believe." The first day of school…September first!? This was the day everything went south. The day that Domino started becoming secretive, plotting to get out of Utopia. The day he asked me about the outside world. The day all this mess with the darkness and the Keyblades started. The day our journey truly began. "Eat up. The chicken's getting cold."

Instead I ran back to my room to grab my journal, searching for my journal entries that I've recently wrote about. But our entire journey…everything about the Keyblades, the darkness and light constantly battling one another, the arrival of Rika and Asher…everything was gone. The last page I wrote on was yesterday's entry, saying how I was going to enjoy this new school year with Domino by my side.

I stuffed my journal inside of my satchel and carried my bag out the door. I put everything down at the kitchen counter, quickly devoured the crunchy and juicy chicken Tara had laid out for me, and ran outside, sitting myself on the steps outside of the foster home.

Opening up my satchel, I took and clutched my journal in my hands as I listened to the sound of blue birds chirping overhead. They were almost invisible in front of the blue sky above. I willed myself to wake up…but didn't. In a fit of anger, I ripped out every page that I had written on and crumpled them up, tossing them to the side as the wind took them away from me like the ball of paper were a tumbleweed.

Taking an ink pen from my satchel I wrote on the next—well now it was the first—available page. This all seemed familiar. This entire setup. It was as if my journey had never existed. Thinking back on this journey…was there really any good that came from it? I had originally thought that I were in the middle of a dream…but now I was thinking my entire journey could've been a dream. It's possible, isn't it? Dreams can seem so long but may only last minutes or even seconds.

I took my hair in my hand and held it in front of my eyes…my hair was black. It was _normal_. I had my father's black hair…not my mother's silver. That saddened me a little, but I could deal. I couldn't think of the words to write in my journal now, so I threw away the page. I closed my book and clutched it close to my heart. Was that entire quest really just a dream?

And then I heard footsteps. Walking to the side of me from the house across the street was Domino. _Domino!_ His purple swayed back and forth as he walked, his silver eyes looking ahead in total confidence. It looked like he was strutting as he walked. His stride was broken by a misplace pebble on the ground. He tripped over ungracefully, falling passed me and breaking his fall by pressing his hands into the glass of the window to the side of the door. His right hand went straight through the window. He immediately pulled it out, blood dripping down and onto the ground below along with some shattered glass.

Almost instantly, a man walked through the door. It was…_Ibiki Kamikaze_. He looked nicely dressed and cleaner than he did when I last saw him in Enix's world. I jumped to my feet and got into a battle stance, but he simply walked to Domino and began wrapping bandages around Domino's hand as if expecting him to crash into the window. _Whoa_! This almost mirrored what happened on September first, when he crashed into the window with his Glider!

"Domino, how many times must I tell you…" Ibiki said as he continued to wrap Domino's hand up. "Be a little more careful around the foster home! This is the seventh time this year you've _tripped_ and broke the window."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Domino spat back, sticking his tongue out at Ibiki childishly. Seeing him like this made me smile. Maybe our entire adventure and all of that heartache and anger we've endured had never really happened. It was all just a dream, an illusion. This was reality. I was back home. Domino was _normal_. Well, as normal as Domino could be. "You need to learn to lighten up. And someone fix the stones outside…they're always making me trip."

Ibiki sighed and smiled sadly at Domino, "You've got to understand, Domino, that you must be careful around here. You may accidentally hurt the little ones." Ibiki was saying this speech as if he's said it to Domino about a thousand times. But Domino had only tripped…uh…seven times this past year. It wasn't his fault.

"Kane, let's go," Domino said, motioning me to follow him as he walked away from the foster home. Ibiki tapped his foot angrily as Domino dismissed him as he kept walking forward. I followed him, and the two of us went onto the bridge and looked ahead at the Lake of Destiny. He looked to me with those shining eyes. "Why do you live there again? You can just come live with me!"

Instinctively I replied, "You're parents wouldn't let me anyway. Besides, my home is with Ibiki and the others." This conversation, these words, had come so naturally to me. This mirrored our conversation before. I looked beyond the Lake of Destiny at the bright setting sun, the sky glowing an orange that illuminated the water in a yellowy glow.

Domino stood up straight as the wind slowly and calmly swept his hair to the side and out of his face, his long hair blowing behind him in the wind. Looking towards the orange sun he said, "Ever wonder what's out there? If there are other places besides here? My parents used to tell me stories of other worlds…other planets, universes…a whole different place. It makes me wonder where they've heard these stories from. Ever wonder if we can leave this dump?"

"No, I usually never wonder," I said instantly. "Other worlds…they don't exist." The realism slowly started to sink in. If all that before was a dream…then worlds couldn't exist. Everything was different. Domino didn't even have a Keyblade…I must've dreamed that up as well. A single tear dripped off of my cheek, and Domino looked to me in worry. I shrugged it off and said, "And if they did, I doubt I could travel to them."

"Hey," Domino said, changing the subject. "Can I check out that orphanage again?"

"Foster home."

"Same difference," Domino said back. "Tomorrow night, I wanna have dinner with you guys. I can be a polite person! And I'm sure Ibiki would _love_ to have me over! He knows I'm your best friend, so I'm sure he'll let!" Domino was going to have dinner with us tomorrow night…if all of that was a dream, then why are the same exact events happening…just without the Keyblade parts?

"Fine, you can come over," I told him. A dinner with my family and Domino would be nice…and fun. I had to have fun. My life has given me a second chance at happiness. I _had _to take it.

.

I couldn't really remember much of what happened after Domino and I turned in for the night. I now sat in Mr. Brunner's classroom on the first day of my junior year of high school. Sitting in the desk to the side of me was Domino. The two of us among around fourteen other students were forced to listen to Mr. Brunner's lecture on Utopian history… _so_ boring!

The teacher lazily looked up at Domino and I who were almost half asleep, but before he could say anything more the bell rang. It was time for the rest of our classes. In my dream he had assigned us a project on the Keyblades—which we had never finished, by the way—but this time he just assigned us a worksheet and sent us on our merry way. A _normal_ teacher for once. I was able to quickly get over the fact that Mr. Brunner was still alive.

Domino and I headed for wherever we were going.

.

"Hey, Kane, welcome back!" Tara Skye greeted me in front of Kamikaze home. School had ended hours ago, and Domino and I had done nothing but hang out at the bridge, the park, and finally the Lake of Destiny. But now we were ready to go into the foster home to eat dinner as planned the day before. Tara looked to Domino with dull eyes and muttered, "And you brought Domino…what's he doing here?"

"We're having dinner together," I told her with a smile, and she grunted distastefully. "Go tell Ibiki." She stuck her tongue out at me and I shoved passed her and into the large house. The smell of chicken filled the air again, and Domino's eyes lit up. Before he could say anything more, two kids pushed passed him, each with toy guns in their hands and pretending to shoot each other with them.

I hadn't seen them the night before because Ibiki let them sleep at a friend's house, but now that I was able to see them…I'm not ashamed to say this, but I fell onto my knees and almost wept. Tears flooded from my eyes. I didn't think I'd see the two of them ever again.

Ty Skye and Kale Kamikaze looked up at me for a moment, and then looked back at one another and continued their combat. Tara quickly stood in between those two and yelled out, "That's enough, boys. Man, I wish parenting was simple. No wonder Ibiki doesn't have an easy time with us."

Ty and Kale laughed at Tara. Domino followed the smell of chicken into the kitchen, and Tara, Kale, Ty, and I headed in as well.

And we ate chicken.

Unlike in my dream, that night Domino didn't take me for a ride on his Glider to the Lake of Destiny. He left for home, and I settled down and went to bed. After that the next day, nothing really happened. From what I remembered, that was September third, the day Mr. Brunner went crazy and killed a lot of the students in our class. No such thing happened. I was glad.

That night when I headed off to bed, the ringing was back in my ears. I was unable to shake away the sound. I covered my head with my pillow in order to escape that awful noise…it now sounded like a knife scraping against glass, echoing in both of my ears. I was almost positive this hadn't happened in my dream. The sound of rain was heard outside…followed by a few strikes of lightning illuminating the sky with a roaring thunder following soon afterwards.

With each flash of lightning my room lit up. I tumbled out of bed, a mess of blankets and sheets tangling around me. I broke a single arm free and tried to untie me but it was almost impossible. Some force was keeping the blankets wrapped around my body. Suddenly the blankets felt hotter…they began glowing white, white flames sprouting up from them and lighting my carpet and bed on fire. The fire didn't burn me but the light was hot enough to make me wince in pain. In a flash, the blankets around me vanished and I scrambled to my feet.

Within a second my room was a burning inferno, white flames covering the walls and floor around me, extending to the ceiling that suddenly seemed miles above me. And so I dashed towards my door. It seemed like the way to my bedroom door was infinite. Finally I seemed to do it. I jumped through my door, slamming it behind me. When suddenly Kamikaze Home began shaking violently.

After it stopped shaking, I sensed an eerie calmness around me. I couldn't sense anyone in the house. Ibiki, Ty, Kale, _Tara_…none of them were there. Finding my way to the front door of the mansion-sized house, I opened it and stepped out, the door behind me vanishing along with Kamikaze Home. What was happening!? I thought everything was a dream! I stared at the empty lot where Kamikaze Home once stood. I didn't worry about that. Suddenly every house and building was gone. Even the Lake of Destiny had vanished. All that was left was an expanse of white.

Ahead of me, the only thing here besides me that wasn't completely white, was the familiar back of Domino. He walked ahead, the bridge soon materializing within the white void. Domino stepped onto the bridge. I quickly ran after him, reaching only a few feet from Domino.

"Domino!" I yelled out. "What happened to everything!?" I looked at my surroundings…nothing but a large white void.

Domino slowly turned around, and as he did, my vision became full of static. It looked almost as if I were watching an old television with static covering up most of the screen. As he turned and the static intensified along with that infuriating screeching in my ears, his clothing seemed to change and his body type seemed to alter. The static and the screeching vanished as he now looked me in the eyes. Except it wasn't Domino. His face was now that of Diantha's. _Destati_. Her eyes were shining white.

"Surely you didn't think any of this was real?" Destati's voice muttered through Domino's sister's mouth. "This isn't what destiny has in store for you."

"What are you _talking_ about?" I yelled out. I didn't want this reality to end. It couldn't end. The happiness I felt seeing old faces that I probably wouldn't have seen again otherwise…it was so heartwarming and happy…I didn't want it to ever end! "What happened to Utopia!?"

Destati smirked and said, "Have you immersed yourself so deeply into this illusion? You know as well as I do that this is not real! You were destined to fight in a war! And fight you shall."

"Leave me alone!" I jumped forward, extending both of my hands, expecting fire or ice or lightning to shoot from my fingertips. Unfortunately, they didn't. I stopped right in front of Destati. "Leave me here! I need to stay happy!"

"You cannot achieve happiness by lies and illusions, child," Destati muttered, holding a hand out to me. "Once you stepped through that portal of light, I found my way into your heart. This was all a test to see if you had the strength in your heart to break through this illusion. And you failed. You are not worthy."

"But you just said I'll fight in the war!" I yelled at her. "How can I be not worthy then!?"

"I said you'll fight in the war," Destati started, turning Diantha's back to me. "I didn't say you'd be the one to counteract Domino."

"What does that _mean_!? Can't I just be happy right where I am!?" Everything in my mind was screaming to break through this illusion, to find my way to the real Domino and stick by him until the end of this war. But my heart cried and wept, longing for the life I couldn't have. I _couldn't_ stay in this illusion…Destati was right. I lowered my head. "You're absolutely right…I can't stay here. I must go. I must fight my way out."

Destati chuckled. Turning back towards me she said, "You have to believe that in your mind, your heart, and your soul. Only then will you find the strength to escape." The bridge beneath us vanished, and we were now floating in an endless expanse of white. She held her hand out to me. "If you cannot find the strength within your heart during the next trials, then you will not be worthy as the one who will counteract the darkness. Keep fighting. Think of your next moves with your mind, deal with the emotions within your heart, and make sure you never give up with that pure soul of yours. Using all three will bring us closer to victory. If not done correctly you are of little use to the light. Do we have a deal?"

I brought my hand closer to hers. What would happen if…I couldn't find the strength in my heart to let go of the past again? What if I screwed up? How will I be of little use? What will Destati do? Without realizing it, I clutched Destati's hand.

"Now, child, go forth towards your destiny," Destati said in a loud voice that echoed off of the invisible walls around us. Her eyes started burning hotter than ever. "And I'll leave behind a parting gift." The glowing white in her eyes vanished…they now had Diantha's silvery eyes. Diantha fell to her knees on an invisible ground, barely awake. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around her. Destati's voice echoed off of the walls, "If you need anything, child, you can find me within the depths of your heart."

All at once, the white around us dimmed to a pitch blackness. And my eyes opened. I was lying in a comfortable bed with my arms wrapped around Diantha. Her eyes slowly began to open before closing again. Her breathing was faint. I sat up and looked at my surroundings. I was in a mysterious room with bookshelves lining every corner. In between each bookshelf were windows shaped like crescent moons. The walls were colored tan and the carpet was a dark green with tannish designs all along it.

I stepped out of bed, my bare feet hitting the comfortable carpet. Perched against the wall was my satchel, shoes, and socks. I kept walking forward until I noticed something that I was almost certain wasn't there a minute before. Towards the back wall was a desk. Sitting behind the desk was a man, a quill dipped in ink in his hand as he drew something in a sketchbook laid across the table.

The man had short brown hair and a small brown mustache. He wore rounded reading glasses as he studied his drawing for a minute before beginning to draw once more. He was wearing a nice looking dark blue suit, with a white shirt underneath and a black tie to finish off his professional outerwear. Something about him seemed to radiate power unlike anyone I've ever known. It wasn't as hot as Destati or as cold as Rika…it just told me he held a strong heart.

He looked up from his sketch and smiled.

**.**

**Did you enjoy this chapter? Who is that man at the end? What was Destati meaning by saying Kane wouldn't be worthy to counteract the darkness? Find out if you stay tuned!**


	19. Night on Bald Mountain

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Night on Bald Mountain**

The man sitting behind the desk looked up at me and smiled, and I could have sworn that his teeth were sparkling. The star and moon shaped windows behind him revealed the blackness of the sky outside, illuminated only by the thousands of stars that hung in the night sky. The man looked over my shoulder so I turned around to see Diantha sitting up in the bed the two of us were in.

Her hair was frizzing up as white steam seemed to emanate off of each strand of hair. She looked to have trouble keeping her eyes open. Opening a single eye she looked at me and then to the mysterious man, then back to me. She fell over backwards and allowed her head to hit the pillow before heading off into a deep slumber once more. I was glad that Domino's sister was alright…why had Destati spared her? Was it time for her to move on to a new vessel?

"You were in distress before," I heard a voice say. I looked to the man who had continued to look at me with thoughtful eyes. "Now you can rest easy." The man intertwined his fingers in front of him as if he were suddenly deep in thought. After a long silence he smiled once again. "You're friends are alright. They should be arriving any minute now."

"Who are you?" I asked.

The man chuckled and replied in a slow and steady voice, "Let's just say…a friend." I arched an eyebrow, just as a door opened behind me. I was almost certain that the door wasn't there a moment before. This place surely was mysterious. When I looked behind me I saw Domino leading the way into the room, Asher and Rika following closely behind.

"Kane!" Domino yelled, running to me and wrapping his arms around me. I returned the hug and felt Domino press his body against mine, comforting me like no other has ever done. Domino released me when his eyes darted towards the bed. Diantha was lying down with one eye open, staring up at Domino before shutting her eye again. "Diantha!?" His eyes widened as he shoved himself passed me and ran to the bed. He climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around Diantha in a tight embrace, and Domino's twin smiled without opening her eyes. "You're…here."

Diantha slowly opened her eyes before replying, "Domino…where am I?"

Domino put a finger to her lips and said in a hushed voice, "You need rest. You've been through a lot." He got out of the bed and balled his fist, marching over to the desk towards the back of the room, glaring into the man's eyes. "Where _are _we?"

The man chuckled, his pearly white teeth and his crystal eyes sparkling. Rika walked to the front of the room on the side of where the door was supposed to be, but it was gone like magic. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, closing her eyes and smirking as Domino continued to stare into the eyes of the stranger sitting behind that desk. Asher rushed to Domino and grabbed onto my friend's shoulders, trying to pull him away while saying, "Sorry about him, he can be really rude sometimes."

"That's quite alright," the man said, readjusting his glasses as he studied Domino, Asher, Rika, and I. "Quite a group you've got here. All from different backgrounds with different stories, different personalities, different futures, different destinies and different fates." After saying that his eyes met mine.

"I'm confused," Rika said, stepping away from the wall and walking towards us and planting both hands firmly on the desk in front of us. "How did we get here? All I remember was a light."

"Kane's strong heart called out, and I heard it from here," the man replied, closing his eyes as if visualizing my heart in his mind. "His heart was distressed so I showed him the way here. Destati intervened. That _Goddess of Heart_ has a tight hold on Kane's heart." Did he _know_ Destati? "Destati left behind Diantha."

At the mention of her name, Diantha slowly sat up in her bed while yawning. She hung her feet off of the bed and stood up, slowly making her way to her brother. When she got within a few feet from Domino she stumbled and fell, stopping herself from crashing to the floor with her hands. This startled all of us. Domino and I helped the girl up. Diantha coughed several times before looking up at Domino with a warm smile.

Her smile was broken when the room began to shake. She immediately conjured Divine Rose as Domino summoned Starlight and Rika summoned Darksouls. Asher summoned his weapon to which Diantha immediately asked, "What Keyblade is that?"

"Gunpowder," Asher replied. _Fitting name_.

The room continued to shake, and the man behind the desk stood up in alarm and yelled out, "They're _here_?" As soon as he said that, Shadows rose from the ground in a circle around Diantha, Asher, Rika, Domino, and I. Two Neoshadows appeared on either side of the mystery man and grabbed onto both of his arms, keeping him stationary. Seven Darkballs appeared in the air only feet below the ceiling and flew in a huge circle above our heads.

"What do they want with us?" Rika asked in frustration, swinging Darksouls further and vanquishing a Shadow, but another one quickly took its place. "Traverse Town, the Realm Between, and now here?"

"I've got them!" I yelled out, holding two hands above my head. Lightning rained down from the ceiling and struck each Heartless in the head, each creature vanishing into the darkness. I then heard a hissing sound like a thousand snakes, and from the ground came a dark portal in which a dark, beefy hand rose from its cruel depths. "A Darkside!?" The hand reached straight for the mystery man. Raising my hand again, an extremely large bolt of thunder blasted downward from the ceiling and onto the hand, making it vanish within seconds. The portal on the ground didn't vanish.

"That was a Thundara spell," Domino muttered. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he clarified, "A second-level thunder spell." Spells had multiple levels? Domino approached the dark portal in the ground and peered into it. I looked into it as well. It looked like a swirling mass of black, blue, and purple leading into a deep, dark abyss. "What did those Heartless want?"

The man behind the desk crossed his arms as he sat back in his chair. He seemed a little uneasy all of sudden, yet he was so calm before the Heartless showed up. Did he and those monstrous beasts have some sort of connection? He obviously knew what they were…and who Destati was. Come to think of it, he knew who every single one of us in the room was. How could he possibly know all of that?

"What's inside of the darkness?" Rika asked, standing on her knees and slowly putting her hand inside the dark portal. She smiled and said, "The darkness feels so good." She stood up. "It leads somewhere…possibly another world."

"Don't worry about it," the mystery man said, standing up once more. "Within that chasm of darkness is a creature so vile that the Heartless spawn from it at a rapid rate. It isn't a Heartless, but it contains a vicious darkness. It is a devil among devils."

"How do you know what's in there?" I asked. "In fact, how do you know who _we_ are? Where are you getting all of this information?"

The man chuckled, showing his pearly white teeth. "My friend, it's not a matter on how or why I know everything. I just _do_. That's all there is to it."

"I can stop that creature—the one summoning all of these Heartless," Domino said, changing the subject. "I've dealt with worse."

"_No_ you haven't." The mystery man seemed frantic now. He slammed his hands down onto the table and shouted, "I forbid it! This creature is one of the most destructive and darkest beings out there, and even he isn't _the_ most horrifying thing."

"Let's see about that," Domino said and, without much surprise, jumped into the black portal in the ground. He vanished beyond the dark depths. The man behind the desk nearly snapped his quill in half when he witnessed Domino vanish into the darkness. Without saying a word, Rika saluted to the man and dived into the black hole as if she were diving into a swimming pool.

"No," Diantha said, catching her breath before running towards the portal. "Domino!" Before she could get within a foot from the black hole, Asher wrapped his arms around her chest and tugged her back, the two of them falling over and onto the floor. Diantha tried to break free from Asher's grasp but to no avail. "Let me go!"

"Nope, sorry!" Asher screamed, finding it hard to keep the girl from getting away from him.

"This is just perfect," the mysterious man sighed, slumping in his seat and putting a hand over his sad eyes. "They're going to die at the hands of something that was entirely my fault!" I was going to ask what he meant by that, but decided against it when he slammed his head into his desk. He looked back up at me and said, "There came a time when all hope was lost. A true evil had awakened and to defeat it I created something to destroy it. But my creation…it turned on me, taking the evil one's side. I can't get rid of it. Even now it's still after me."

"You should know that Domino and I are a part of a prophecy," I told him, walking up to his desk to put a hand on his shoulder. He looked into my eyes and smiled slightly. "If this _war_ is what's meant to happen, there's no way the two of us can die. I'll go make sure that the other two are alright." The man grabbed my hand when I tried to walk away. He looked at me with a face that said _Are you sure_? I told him, "I'm sure."

A ran into the darkness, falling into the chasm headfirst. My first instinct was to just keep falling, not expecting solid ground for a good few hours. I couldn't see anything below me. I tried to scream out, but no voice was heard. All at once as if an entire world had materialized in a short millisecond, I hit the black, rocky surface hard with my elbows. When I landed, I flew back up into the air a few inches and landed again, this time on my knees. I was falling backwards. Falling? By the looks of the terrain that I could barely make out as I tumbled downward, I was falling down a steep, rocky mountain of some sort. Pain was shooting up and down my arms and legs and chest and back. I flipped over backwards for several feet going down the mountain until I could finally grab a hold of a giant chunk of rock that was partially sticking out of the rocky surface. Grabbing it halted my decent. I was fine.

About twenty feet above my head were Domino and Rika, grabbing onto the rocky terrain and steadily climbing to the top. Domino looked down at me and his smile widened as he said, "Didn't you always talk about how you really wanted to go mountain climbing?"

"Yeah, reading about mountains in textbooks isn't as fun as actually seeing one in person, let alone climbing one," I called above me. Letting go of the rocky surface with one hand, I checked my elbow. Blood was streaming from it, but a simple Cure spell worked on it just fine. I continued my ascent, trying to catch up to Domino and Rika. Every so often a rock would give way underneath my feet and I'd fall a foot or two downward, but I'd recollect myself and begin climbing again.

As we got higher and higher, a thought finally occurred to me. _Why were we on a mountain_? The higher we went, the suffer the mountain became. The air was supposed to be getting colder, but I felt the temperature begin to rise. Sweat beaded down my forehead, dripping from my hair and eyebrows and into my eyes. I blinked the sweat away. Then I could smell something which smelled faintly of ash. Was something burning? The rocks of the mountain went from black to a lighter color…were the rocks turning red? The rocks felt like they were warming up with the temperature. _This wasn't a mountain_, I thought, _it's a_—

Domino screamed ahead of me, falling from his position and flying downwards, passing me and up and nose-diving down the mountain. I held my hand out and suddenly a vortex of air surrounded Domino. Had I done that? The vortex of air lifted Domino up, floating him in the air only a few feet from me. I took a good long look at the palms of his hands and the bottoms of his feet. They were scorched. Domino had finally paid the toll for going barefoot everywhere. I heard Rika above us yell out, "I can't climb any farther; it's too hot!" She kicked herself off of the mountain, and before she could fall downward her darkness shot from her feet and rocketed her into the air, keeping her aloft in the air.

I decided to wave my hand through the air, dropping myself off of the side of the mountain. Before I could fall too low, I was rocketed upward by the air used by my Aero spell. The three of us floated in the air, Domino and I were floating within vortexes of air and Rika was floating by using her darkness. I looked ahead of us to the mountain, my eyes following the steep way upward until they came into contact with a rushing red, orange, and yellow substance. It was…_lava_, slowly making its way down the _volcano_. It _was_ a volcano!

Domino waved his feet through the air in pain. Thank goodness he hadn't actually touched the lava…his hands and feet would've probably burnt to a crisp. With each hand I grabbed onto his feet, and a blue light washed over his feet and suddenly Domino smiled. I don't know how I'd done it. I had used Blizzard magic to cool off his feet. I didn't know I could transfer the coolness of the Blizzard spell by touch! Domino looked to me with gratitude and said, "Let's get higher up!"

Rather reluctantly Rika and I followed Domino upward through the air. The air above was becoming hazy and foggy, but every now and then I caught glimpses of _things_ flying around us. Using more Aero spells I was able to dispel most of the fog and haze and saw that flying around us, barking like little, vicious puppies were over a thousand Darkballs that filled the skies and circled around the volcano in a number of patterns. As we soared higher and higher—trying our best at fending off the multitude of Darkballs—we had finally reached the top of the volcano. The giant hole in this gigantic mountain spewed out darkness and ash and lava, lava flowing like a river downward, ash coiling through the air and darkness curling down into the dark depths below.

I could finally get a good look around the perimeter of the mountain. Nothing but darkness and spirals and wisps of blue, purple, and magenta coiled around this tiny little world. I saw Shadows and Neoshadows rise from the ashes and darkness coating the volcano, climbing up and walking straight passed the lava without being harmed. Darkballs continued to rise like an explosion from the volcano, littering the skies by the thousands. Four Darksides rose from the dark depths all around the volcano, raising their large hands into the air as if to praise the mountain.

And then something finally rose from within the volcano. Something large and _powerful_. I could almost heart Domino and Rika's jaws dropping.

From within the volcano rose a gigantic, muscular, humanoid demonic-looking monster. The beast's skin blacker than the darkness around it. It was so large, the height of Rika, Domino, and I combined wasn't even as tall as its head was. His head sported two curved horns, in his mouth were four jagged fangs, and his eyes were a glowing yellow. He had enormous, black, bat-like wings, and his wingspan looked larger than his own height, stretching out to either end of the large expanse of sky. He stopped rising, not letting his knees rise out of the volcano.

**_"_****_Hello,"_** I could hear a dark, evil voice whisper within my mind. His voice was thunderous within the depths of my mind. From the looks of Domino's and Rika's surprised expressions, they were also hearing the demonic voice. **_"_****_I am Chernabog. I exist for darkness, I linger within darkness, I control darkness…I _****am********_Darkness!" _**The demonic creature sprouting from the volcano lifted a clawed hand up, a ball of light appearing within it. The light darkened to a menacing, blood-colored orb of flames. Waving his wrist forward, the ball of fire shot towards the three of us. Domino and Rika conjured their Keyblades, Domino swinging Starlight forward and slamming it into the ball of flames. The ball blew up in an explosion of fiery white light.

"This must be that creature that man had told us about," Domino said. _Obviously_, _Domino_. Domino flew towards the massive face of Chernabog. Rika stayed by my side and shot orbs of darkness at the creature. Chernabog simply swatted each orb of darkness away like it was nothing. Domino got within ten feet of Chernabog's face, but the monster slashed its slaws forward, smacking Domino in the side and sending my friend flying off into the distance. I flew to Domino and tried to reposition himself in the air, and he told me, "I've got it, Kane. Thanks."

Chernabog growled loudly and shot many balls of fire towards the three of us. Lifting my hand into the air, lightning rained down from the darkness above and slammed into each orb of fire, causing each one to explode in a flurry of dancing flames.

Chernabog flapped its wings and a sudden gust of wind pushed me back, sending me flying backwards, tumbling through the air without any control of my body. Domino had held his arms out in front of him to brace himself from the wind, and he was able to stand his ground…or would that be standing his air? Or floating his air? Never mind. Rika seemed overall immune to the blast of wind that was sent our way; she flew through the air striking down Darkball after Darkball.

I held my hands out in front of me and I was pushed forwards by a gust of Aero I had conjured. I was closing in on its face. Each cruel eye seemed to be larger than my own head. It growled with its ferocious mouth, slamming a fist forward and barely missing me by a few inches. Domino had pulled me away at the last moment. He looked at me with eyes as if to say, _Stay back_. He plunged Starlight forward, jabbing the beast before us in the wrist that had previously swung down on us.

Darkness poured from Chernabog's wound. Howling in rage, Chernabog swung his fist at Domino, slamming his knuckles into Domino's chest and sending my friend's body flying backwards. "Domino!" I shouted at him, reaching a hand out to him. But he had gotten just out of my reach. And suddenly a circle of Darkballs surrounded me, baring their jagged fangs at me and trying so very hard to chomp down on me. At last, I felt a sharp pain. Five of them had sunk their teeth into my arms. I couldn't feel them.

I saw red floating inches from my face. The blood from my arms was coiling up towards the black sky as I was continuously being bitten by these vicious dog-like Heartless. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine the pain being over. I felt a tingle of electricity coursing through my veins. Was it my Thunder? I opened my eyes to see the Darkballs surrounding me each being shocked and destroyed, one by one. I felt a Cure spell being put on me…but it wasn't Domino's, or my, doing.

Floating a few yards away was someone who had an arm raised in the air, slowly putting it down as if just finishing off a spell.

The person wore white heeled boots and a short, white dress that reached a little below her knees. It wasn't one of those poofy, princess-type dresses either. It looked like a dress a business woman would wear. This was obviously a woman. The dress had sleeves that went to her wrists, a golden bracelet around each wrist. Around her neck was a shiny silver necklace, a symbol looking like a heart hanging from it. Wrapped around her head was what looked to be black bandages, wrapped around her head in such a way that only allowed her nose and her left eye to be seen.

I gasped when I saw that eye staring back at me. It was golden…_my_ golden eye color. I was told that nobody outside my family possessed those yellow-gold eyes. It was impossible. My mother was gone. This woman…she didn't resemble my mother. It wasn't her. The only other one who possessed the golden eyes was my brother. Ibiki had told me that three years ago, my dad left and my mom and brother went to find him. He then told me they were dead. There was no other person that could be related to me.

Then who was this woman staring back at me? That eye showed hints of guilt, hints of remorse…_sadness_ seemed to reflect from her eye.

And then Chernabog's large fist came inches from my face. Domino quickly stabbed Starlight into Chernabog's inky black skin. I looked back at the girl who had saved me a minute earlier, but she was gone. Where had she gone?

"Kane!" I didn't know why Domino was shouting at me, but he yanked me away and began flying back towards where Rika was. Finally I saw what was happening. In circle around the volcano, fire rose up from the dark depths and encased the demon within a shield of fiery hot fury.

In an instant, the flames vanished from around Chernabog. The beast looked around in confusion and suddenly…started punching at the air. The woman from before was darting through the air with light trailing behind her. Chernabog never successfully landed a punch on the woman. The black bandages around her head opened up a little on the back of her head, and a simple ponytail of hair flew out, billowing around in the wind behind her. I gasped. The hair was…_silver_.

It _was_ my family. It _had_ to be. _Who_ was it?

Flapping his demonic wings once again, Chernabog generated a tidal wave of wind that slammed into Domino and I. The woman simply vanished in a flash of white. And then the beast…retreated. It sunk back into the depths of the volcano. The light emanating off of the lava and the flames vanished. The Heartless all around the place sunk into the darkness. There was an eerie calm in the air.

"It's gone?" Rika called from farther behind Domino and I.

"Who was that?" I asked to myself, reaching a hand out in front of me.

"What?" Domino asked. "Who was who?"

"Golden eyes, silver hair," I muttered, my hair gently flowing in the calm, cool breeze. "Not my mother…my entire family's dead. Then who was it?" Domino put a hand on my shoulder. "Domino." The sudden outburst of Domino's name caused him to jerk his hand away. "And Rika." Rika flew towards the two of us. "Let's go inside." I flew forward, directly above the volcano. I couldn't see a single slither of light below. Had all the lava disappeared? I suddenly fell into it, Domino and Rika trailing behind me.

I landed on the rockiness of the bottom of the volcano's insides. Chernabog was nowhere to be seen. Floating in the center of the small room was what looked like a crystalized Keyhole. The same one I had seen in Traverse Town. The true heart of a world. I reached out and touched it, and it glowed a bright white. Domino and Rika landed behind me. Starlight immediately pointed itself at the Keyhole and blasted a light towards it, making the light from the crystal glow even brighter.

I felt warmth…a familiar warmth. The same warmth that had come from that portal that had brought me to that mysterious room with that mysterious man. My eyes readjusted to the light as the whiteness dimmed. The three of us _were_ back in that room. Diantha and Asher sat on the bed in the back of the room talking to each other, until Diantha stood up and rushed to her twin to give him a hug.

"I saw a woman," I blurted out, still at a loss for words.

I was cut out of my trance by the glowing crystal Keyhole in the center of the room in front of the desk. The man behind the desk marveled at the sight of this pure creation with wide eyes. "You found one of the pure Keyholes, the heart of a world. I've tried to get so many to obtain it from that vile beast. And here it is. The Key to the Door."

"The what?" Domino asked. "What is this for? _Who_ are you?"

"My name is…" the man said, crossing his arms as he stood upright in his chair, looking at the crystal Keyhole with determination. "Disney. Walt Disney. What you see before you is one of millions…a pure lock hidden within each world. if you would have found this lock within Utopia, those civilians would not have perished." Domino's face turned grim. "Seven of them opens a door to the world I once called my own. The one my brother had shoved me out of."

"Your brother?" Asher asked with confusion, stepping off of the bed himself.

Walt Disney looked towards the ceiling and replied, "He was born alongside me…I created the light within our world, and he created the darkness outside it. He tainted _our_ world with darkness so I pushed him out into his dark domain. He came back in and shoved me out, locking the door back in. If you bring me six more of these pure Keyholes, I shall go back to where I belong. If you do this, a great treasure will be unlocked to you. Do you accept?"

"A great treasure?" Domino asked. "We _could_ accept. What do you think, Kane?"

I heard what he was saying but…none of this mattered. I looked up to Walt and asked him, "You know everyone here…and their stories. Earlier I had seen someone possessing golden eyes and silver hair. Who is she? Not my mother…then who? The only other family member of mine with those traits was my brother, Samuel. According to Ibiki, my mom and my brother had died."

"I can't reveal anything about the information I hold," Disney replied. "Only the things you know already. Your mother died a long time ago. Your father is dead. Your brother is gone. I'm sure you'll find out this girl's identity soon enough." Walt smiled at the crystal Keyhole and reached out for it. The mystical item turned into a shower of light, each practical of light flying towards the man and fusing into his skin. He was showered in warm glow that soon vanished.

"You never talk about your brother," Domino muttered. "What was he like?"

"He…always wanted to go to the outside worlds," I replied. "He wanted to travel and meet new people. Samuel was a very smart man." The thought of remembering my brother after all this time brought a smile to my lips. A tear dripped down my cheek. Hopefully on our travels we'd come to find out who this woman was. Now…was Domino going to say yes to going to six other worlds and finding their crystal Keyholes?

I looked to Domino and he smiled. He winked at me.


	20. Under the Sea

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious.**

**.**

**Under the Sea**

Of course we were skeptical about traveling to six worlds to obtain six other crystal Keyholes for the sole purpose of unlocking a doorway to another world for some man we didn't even know. Walt Disney intertwined his fingers as he explained, "There's nothing wrong with taking the crystalized Keyholes from their resting spots within the hearts of the worlds. Each world hath spawned from the vast blackness of space, each with a heart of its own. In case of emergencies, I put a special lock on my world that could only be opened with the crystal Keyholes…seven of them. So I placed a Keyhole of that kind within each world in case such a time would come. The crystal Keyholes have nothing to do with the natural stability of the worlds." We nodded.

"Domino," Diantha muttered, making her Divine Rose materialize. There was an unmistakable radiance of light that hadn't coated her Keyblade before when we had first met her. It was still covered in the light from the Goddess of Heart. "Since I am free from Destati's embrace, I am going to head to _Sanctuary_ at once. I will tell our family that you are alive and well."

"It's okay, they probably already know," Domino replied. "We had met up with Damian not too long ago." At that, Diantha smiled. "But head home…you know me. I can take care of myself."

Diantha nodded and summoned her Glider. She ran up to her twin and embraced him in a large hug before stepping onto her Glider and flying out of the mysterious room, soaring through the now open window. The window magically closed itself.

"And why can't you go get them yourself?" Asher snapped at Disney, slamming his hands down on the desk.

Disney didn't look up at Asher. "When I was shoved out of my own world, half of my powers were sealed within. I can't traverse the worlds. I can open and rearrange the lanes between the worlds, but only that." He dipped his quill in a bottle of ink to the side of his sketchbook and began drawing something. Domino and I inched closer to his desk to get a closer look. And what he was drawing looked unmistakably like bubbles, and fish, and some sort of castle. He dropped his quill to the side and a portal of blinding light appeared in the center of the room. "Here is a world in which one of the crystal Keyholes is hidden somewhere deep beneath the ocean currents. You four are to go in and retrieve it. The Keyblade is an item that helps people…if anyone within this world is in need of assistance, you may halt your quest to help them. Now go."

I studied the portal before us. It must've led to one of the millions of worlds out there. I looked out the window at the tons of stars within my vision, trying to imagine which one could hold this world we were soon to be exploring. Domino grabbed my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine, and at once the two of us dashed into the portal of light. I could hear Rika and Asher running in after us.

An extremely cold feeling soon washed over me only a second after we entered the portal. I felt my silver hair swaying from side to side. I held a hand out before me and swiped it through the air…only it wasn't air. I was floating in water. My first instinct was to start flailing about as if I were about to drown, but I soon realized that the salty water did not sting my eyes, the water wasn't choking me, and I was somehow keeping myself afloat instead of sinking down. I looked down. My chest was bare and my legs…my legs I had known all my life...were gone—replaced by a golden tail. On my tail, the gold faded into white at the very bottom of it. My lower half was that of a _fish_!

To my side was Rika. She looked absolutely stunning. Her black hair flowed behind her majestically, her eyes sparkling even underwater. She wore a bra that appeared to be made from purple-colored seashells. Her tail was colored black, fading into a light purple at the bottom. She held a hand over her mouth in confusion before muttering, "Where…are we?" She nearly gasped at the sound of her voice. It was so _clear_. It didn't sound as if she were underwater.

Then it hit us. The two of us looked around. Domino and Asher were nowhere to be seen. But…I had been holding onto Domino's hand! How could we have been separated? Our surroundings consisted of crystal-clear buildings that almost completely blended into the water. Fish were swimming all around us. Several other houses made of seashells, coral, and kelp were scattered all around the clear buildings.

I wasn't entirely sure how well I would be able to swim, but I had to give it a shot. So I swam forward, my tail flapping up and down behind me and guiding me through the water. I was able to swim so fluently. My mind was almost tricked into thinking I had never had legs to begin with. Rika seemed to be getting in tune with her inner-fish as she was much better at swimming than I was. She swam in front of me and grabbed onto my hands. Her hands seemed to make the water around me seem _colder_. "This world is underwater…so the laws of this world must make it so that everyone is a…fish?" It sounded like a good theory. "But where are Domino and Phoenix?"

"That portal that led us here must've separated us," I replied, a tad unsure of it myself. "I mean, if a portal leads to a certain world, it can't always make you appear in the _exact_ same location within a world. Correct?" All of these laws about the worlds confused me. Rika nodded rather uncertainly. "They must've appeared somewhere else within this place. We need to find them."

"Are you really taking charge?" Rika asked, putting her hands on her hips as she pouted. "I'm a natural born leader. I'll lead the way." She began swimming ahead of me, all the while calling back to me, "First, we need to find out _where_ we are." She approached a random fish. It was black with red stripes and its face wasn't too pretty. "Excuse me; we're not from around here. Can you tell me what part of the ocean this is?"

The fish turned towards Rika and I, scowling, and in a deep, gruff voice it said, "This here's the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. All new fish must register with our new King. He's a very kind merman who's always willing to take in an outsider, such as yourselves." It sounded as if the fish was forcing itself to be kind. Something about him didn't seem too happy about talking to us. "Now if you excuse me, I have…business to attend to." The fish turned around and swam as fast as he could in the opposite direction, disappearing behind a house that was a clam.

"Atlantica," I repeated, letting the word roll off my tongue. It definitely sounded like an underwater city. No, an underwater _kingdom_. "Kingdoms normally have a king or queen, and a castle, don't they? Let's find this castle."

"Are you looking for the _King_, may I ask?" said a scratchy voice to the side of me. I turned around in the water, floating backwards as I saw some kind of eel slithering ever closer to me in the water. Its skin was a dull blue-green, with dark fins lining its spine and underside. It had a long mouth filled with sharp, white teeth. Its voice was like razor blades cutting through my ears.

"Ooh, I think he is," said another voice nearly identical to the first. Rika nearly yelped in surprise as another eel almost identical floated on by her. The way it swam looked, I don't know, more feminine. Its skin was more of a reddish tint as opposed to the other's blue-green.

"We can help," the two said at once.

"Who are you two?" Rika asked, drawing Darksouls. As it appeared, the water bubbled up all around it as if the Key was causing a disturbance in the sea. "And how can you help?"

"Oh, I'm George, and this is my wife, Martha," the first one spoke, coiling around me. "I know, we have some pretty dull names. We gave our children better names, you know."

"As for how we can help you," Martha replied, coiling herself around Rika's leg. "We know a shortcut to the castle. Through the _Atlantican caves_, you know."

"Follow us," George whispered. "We won't bite." George and Martha immediately left us behind and slithered their way through the water ahead of us.

We had to get to the castle as soon as possible. This _king_ might have seen Domino or Asher. He might know where the crystal keyhole would be. So Rika and I took off after the eels. We made our way through several streets. I took this time to really get a feel of our surroundings. All of the glass buildings, houses made of clams and kelp and coral and other things, all of the fish, and especially the ones who looked like _humans_ with fish-tails. The world was amazing. All that ended when we saw George and Martha dive into a small opening in the ground ahead of us.

"That must be the entrance to the cave," Rika told me. "Stay on your guard. I don't really trust those two." Rika dove in after the eels. I followed her shortly after. The light from above the surface of the water died down. The caves were almost pitch-black. There were pearls lining the cave walls that sparkled in what little light shone through the hole at the top of the cave.

"Come on, faster," Martha told us. So we swam after them faster, eventually catching up to them. Soon they stopped. Rika and I stopped as well.

"Uh…Kane?" Rika muttered, pointing to the side. I looked where she was pointing at, and my jaw dropped. Tied up to the cave wall to the left of us was none other than Asher. Like me he was also bare-chested. His tail was completely white. His arms and tail were tied to the wall. He seemed to be struggling to break free but to no avail.

"Asher!?" I yelled out at him.

He looked back to me and smiled, screaming, "Kane! And Rika! Domino and I were together but we got separated. These two said they'd help find him but…stay away from George and Martha! They're _not_ good people…uh, er…fish? Eels? What are you?"

"Eels is correct," George cackled menacingly.

"What do you want from us?" Rika asked, swinging her Darksouls out in front of her.

"We've been getting bored with our normal meals," Martha started, and George continued with, "And that's why we'll eat you instead."

George and Martha both turned to Asher. Asher started writhing in his place to break free but he was still unable to. "Don't eat me! I taste terrible! Kane tastes good! Try him!" _Thanks a lot_. George and Martha ignored him as they swam towards him, licking their licks as the approached the boy. "Did I not just say that Kane is delicious!?"

I glared daggers at Asher. Maybe letting them eat him wouldn't be such a bad thing. I had to snap out of it though. Holding a hand out, a blast of lightning shot from my palm and slammed into both of the eels. I could feel the tingle of the electricity from within the water. The lightning vanished and the two eels slowly fell to the ground in defeat. Were they…dead?

I quickly swam my way to Asher and undid the seaweed that tied his hands and tail to the rocky wall behind him. When he was finally released he swam away from the wall freely.

Before he could get within ten feet from the wall, George and Martha had suddenly sprung to life and wrapped their lower bodies around his wrists, intertwining their upper bodies with each other. Asher was now wearing handcuffs made of eels. He tried to pry his hands apart but the eels weren't budging. George and Martha each opened their huge mouths and bit into the skin of Asher's wrists. Blood slowly rose up in the water, staining the seawater red. I could _smell_ the blood. Asher screamed out at the pain and at the sight of his blood floating in front of his face.

"Watch out!" Rika yelled out, swinging Darksouls forward. She split right through the two intertwined eels, cutting each of them in half. Asher's wrists were free from each other. He unraveled the tails of the eels from each of his wrists and freed his hands completely.

We watched in horror as the two eels, each now cut in half, floated slowly downward while dissolving into a black ink. As they were dissolving, I could hear George saying, "Flotsam…Jetsam…"

I saw a swift movement out of the corner of my eye. Without much thought I shot my hand out and sent a bolt of lightning to the side. I had hit something. I looked at where the lightning had struck but all I saw were two tiny eels. They couldn't have been longer than my middle finger. They were both nearly identical to George. The lightning I shot at them seemed to stun them for a bit. They opened their eyes and I gasped. The left eye on one was glowing yellow, while the other one's right eye was glowing as well. Had I done that?

These must've been the children of George and Martha. Flotsam…and Jetsam, was it? The two quickly swam away from me, disappearing into the shadows.

"Let's not worry about those two," Asher muttered, holding out his wrists for me to see. I held a hand up to them and a green light washed over them. The cuts from the eels' teeth had vanished. "I know a way out of here that leads to the place they took me from. Come on!" Asher began swimming deeper into the cave until we could see another hole in the ceiling above, a ray of light shining down on us. Asher started swimming upward. He in no way looked like an expert at swimming. In fact, it almost seemed like he had no idea what he was doing. He flapped his arms around like a bird on steroids and his tail looked like a helicopter propeller.

The three of us had exited the hole in the ceiling to find ourselves at some sort of gate. The gate was silver, and the tips of the bars on the gate looked like tridents. Two men with fish tails, one blue and one red, stood…or…floated guard in front of the gate. I looked behind the gate where a huge castle was.

The man on the left spoke up first. "I assume you're with the other visitor? At the moment he's talking with our King."

"Yes, we're with the other visitor," Asher immediately said. Upon saying that the silver gates opened up, and Asher immediately swam through. Rika and I followed him. I began questioning why the even had a gate. Fish could swim right over it. I decided not to let that particular detail bother me.

We had swam passed the courtyard and through the entrance to the castle. For a castle it wasn't too large. The interior only seemed to have one room. It was a rounded room with a throne in the center. All around the throne were different colored clams. Several golden and silver tridents hung from the walls. Sitting on the throne was a man who I guessed was the King of Atlantica.

He was a large man-fish with thin, black eyebrows and long black hair. He didn't have much facial hair. He was well muscled and wore gold gauntlets with several studs on them on each wrist. As he was part fish like we were, Triton's lower body was that of a dark blue fish with cyan, translucent fins. As a sign of his obvious royalty status, Triton wore a yellow, five-pointed crown that somewhat resembled a sea star on his head. He possessed mesmerizing blue eyes.

Floating to his side was Domino. His purple hair was flowing behind him, his fedora seemingly not getting soaked in the water as if there was a protective bubble around it. His tail was purple. His face lit up when he saw the three of us. "Hello, friends!" he shouted out at us. "I'd like you to meet the main merman in charge, the great and powerful…King Triton!"

King Triton smiled at the three of us who arrived. He motioned his hand as if beckoning us to approach him. We swam forward until we were right in front of the tall merman. His long hair flowed dramatically behind him. "So you three are friends of Domino's? Any friend of his is a friend of mine. We have a lot in common." _They did_? Triton continued, "Domino has always longed for the outside world and whatever lies beyond. So have I. But as far as I could swim is only up to the surface." He stared up above him. The castle had no ceiling. No roof. It was a hole that led up and out of the castle. If you continued upward from there you'd reach the surface of the water. "The humans are a marvelous race. So I take it you four are from another world entirely?"

"How'd you know that?" I asked him.

Domino crossed his arms and replied, "He says we're the fifth group of Keybearers to venture here in the past three weeks. All of the Keybearers from Daybreak Town are really leaving their mark on the worlds. King Triton keeps in contact with the other worlds via the messenger god, Hermes. Ever since our arrival in Daybreak Town which was a few weeks ago in Daybreak time, Keybearers have been traveling to each of the worlds in search of…my homeworld."

I remembered our time on Daybreak well. Domino had convinced an entire legion of dark-users to fight for _Kingdom Hearts_ so they can become powerful. And that was all of Domino's doing. I decided not to bring it up. What startled me more was that Hermes, a god from Olympus, can traverse the worlds as well. Well, he _is _a god, and he _did_ fetch Diantha's letter for Domino.

"Do you four mind joining me?" Triton asked, causing us to raise a few eyebrows at him. "I was just about to head up to the surface. The ocean can be pretty dull and boring sometimes. It's good to just get away." He began swimming upward, expertly dashing out of the top of the castle towards the surface of the water. Triton seemed like an interesting man…er, fish. He wanted to see the outside world but he couldn't because of his…fishiness? We easily came here and developed our own means of transportation so why couldn't Triton do the same? Wouldn't entering a portal to another world give him legs? Asher, Rika, Domino, and I followed Triton.

As we swam closer to the surface of the water, the rays of the sun nearly blinded us. While the four of us nearly had to shield our eyes, Triton swam headfirst upwards, his eyes staring up at the sun with determination. Our heads broke free from the water. I inhaled…and I felt the sensation of air filling my lungs. So I had gills _and_ lungs? Being a—merman, was it?—seemed to give me what both a human and a fish would need.

We were inches away from the shore of a beach, the waves gently lapping against the sand. I placed a hand on the sand, feeling the land once again. I had almost forgotten what solid ground actually had felt like.

I heard footsteps, the sound of bare feet slapping against the sand in a hurry. "Triton, dear! You're back so soon?" I looked ahead and saw a thin, fair-skinned young woman with long, black hair. She was wearing a dress of navy blue and sky blue. Her lips were colored red, there was a small beauty mark near her chin on the left side of her face, and a yellow seashell hung around her neck as a necklace. She quickly bent down and wrapped her arms around Triton, and the man returned the hug. "Who are your friends?"

The four of us introduced ourselves. Triton held onto the woman's hands and spoke in a soft voice, "Vanessa, I had to see you again. The sea life is so _boring_ when I have nobody to share it with. If I could have my way I'd make you a mermaid in a second."

"Sadly that isn't meant to be," the woman, Vanessa, replied back. "But if it were to happen, I'd have to change my name, make sure my people don't find where I've disappeared to. How about _Ursula_? Nobody would want to bother with an Ursula." She had a point. The sound of that name gave me chills. "You don't know how long I've wanted to be one with the sea, like you. I'll…I'll be right back, dear." Vanessa turned around and dashed away, leaving Triton behind.

"Who exactly was that?" Asher asked, breaking the long silence that followed Vanessa's leave.

Triton looked to the sun and smiled, resting his fist on his cheek as he gazed upwards. "She's my reason for living. Vanessa is someone I've met a long, long while back. Now we always talk. She's amazing, isn't she?"

"A king does not live for one person," Domino suddenly snapped, slamming his hand against the water. "He lives for his kingdom, his royal subjects, everyone. Wanting just one person is selfish." Was he really one to talk? He's only wanted it to be _just_ me and him. Hypocritical much? "And you want to just leave your kingdom behind?"

"I never asked to be crowned king," Triton said, slumping his shoulders. "But any child of the great Poseidon is supposedly _meant_ for royalty within the sea. All I want is to get out." _Poseidon_!? Did that mean King Triton was a _demigod_? Were the worlds really _this_ interconnected? "Wait…something's happening!" The water around us began to shake. Suddenly a giant beast leapt from beneath the water—a _shark_. It had a rounded body and its teeth were razor-sharp. The top half of its body was a dark blue-grey while its underside was a lighter blue-grey. Its eyeballs were yellow and its pupils looked red. The shark snapped at Triton. In Triton's hand appeared a large golden trident. Triton swung it forward and smacked the shark, sending it flying backwards and into the water.

The shark jumped back out of the water and leapt at Domino. And Domino shoved Starlight down the shark's throat. Within seconds the shark exploded into bits and pieces, a dark residue coating the top of the water where the shark had been at. Domino wiped the sweat from his brows and muttered, "Too easy."

"I'm ready," a voice said from the shore. We all looked towards Vanessa who had spoken. She was now wearing a bikini and looked as if she were ready to dive into the water. "That trident of yours…holds unimaginable power, does it not? I'm sure it could turn little ol' me into a beautiful mermaid." He put her hands together and dived into the water, splashing it into my face. She resurfaced next to Triton and wrapped her arms around him and in seconds their lips had met. Triton held the kiss for a few seconds before breaking free. I'm ready."

"I wanted to become human so the two of us could walk alongside each other," Triton muttered, looking at the water. "I can't take you from your beautiful home, Vanessa."

"I want to leave this dump, it's nothing but agonizing sunlight and annoying humans whom I don't relate with," Vanessa replied. She put her hands on Triton's shoulders. "We belong together, dear. We can swim alongside each other and fight through these currents together. And from now on, call me Ursula."

"I love you, you know I do, _Ursula_." Triton told her, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "But the land is where you belong. It's where I was meant to be. Not stuck in this endless ocean with a father who won't even come down and visit his kid…if I became a father, I'd shower my son or daughter with unconditional love, never leaving their side. The ocean is no place for a child. I want them to run free like the humans do. Let's stay in the human world. Together."

"That isn't wise, Triton," Vanessa—I mean—_Ursula_, said, her tone suddenly changing. "The ocean is calm, peaceful. But also strong and unforgiving. It's where the greatest rulers lie. You and I. Now give me that trident." She wrapped her fingers around the staff part of the trident that Triton was holding. "Let's rule the seas together, my dear!" She yanked the trident away from Triton and pointed it at her feet.

Asher, Rika, Domino, and I were speechless. Did that trident really have the magical capabilities to transform her into a sea-creature? A golden light shined at the tips of the trident. "What are you doing? You can't use that! It's too dangerous for humans! A trident is the symbol of the unforgiving sea!"

"A sea in which I deserve to rule, Triton," Ursula said menacingly, and a golden light blasted from the trident's tips and to her feet. White light surrounded her legs until they morphed together and became one lavender colored fish-tail. "Ah, this feels lovely!" She splashed her tail around in the water.

"The sea will hurt you!" Triton yelled at Ursula. "Listen to reason! The sea is no place for anybody. It's dull, it's boring, and it has dangerous predators! What do you intend to do now that you have the trident?"

"What I've wanted to do since I've met you, dear," Ursula cackled, pointing the trident at the sky. "To take your powers and rule the sea like no other!" Storm clouds filled the skies, the wind began to pick up, and the sand on the beach was lifted off of the ground by the wind. "That is my destiny! Your destiny is so over now." She pointed the trident at Triton and a golden light blasted from its tips and slammed the merman in the chest, causing him to fly backwards and sink into the water.

"What are you doing!?" I yelled at her. "Couldn't you see that Triton truly loves you? He wanted to spend his life with you!"

"True love is for princesses," Ursula retorted. "And he's no Prince Charming. He's a misguided fool who has no idea the power he's capable of." She pointed the trident menacingly at me. "No amount of heroism will stop me from taking Triton's throne!"

I had to do something quick. She seemed all sweet an innocent but now she had pure evil and darkness lingering in her eyes. Darkness that probably went straight into her heart. She was completely taken by the darkness. I held my hands up into the air as lightning rained down from the sky, slamming into the water around Ursula and stunning her a bit. She retaliated quickly by swinging the trident forward. I quickly dodged the attack.

Domino and Rika leapt forward from the water and began hacking and slashing at Ursula, cutting her skin and causing the crystal water to be stained red. She held the trident high above her head and gold light washed over her, healing all of her wounds. Asher shot bullets from Gunpowder, but Ursula was quite the swimmer as she dodged each and every bullet of artificial light.

Triton's head rose from the water, his eyes staring in awe at Ursula who was continuously shooting beams of golden light at the four of us. "I trusted you!" Triton yelled, his voice carrying over to us in the roar of the wind that seemed to be getting stronger by the second.

"Trust is for the weak," Ursula cackled. "Didn't Daddy tell you that? Oh, that's right. You've never laid eyes upon your father. What a horrid life. With you out of the picture, I can take over and maybe even take Poseidon's throne as god of the seas and the storms! Imagine! Ursula, the Goddess of Sea and Storms. Die, Triton!" She pointed the trident at Triton and a gold light shot from it.

Domino and Rika quickly interfered by shooting beams of darkness at the beam of light. The beam of light soon became that of darkness, and it stopped in midair, soon flying back to where it came from. The darkness slammed into Ursula's chest, causing her to clutch her heart and to sink into the depths. For a second, all was calm. The wind died down. All I could hear was my heartbeat and the steady breathing of all five of us. Triton studied the water. He gasped. "What…did…you…do!?"

"What do you mean?" Domino quickly asked.

The water began shaking as a hand broke free from the water, the trident in its hand. The skin of the hand was a lavender color. The creature the hand belonged to broke free from the surface, crawling onto the sand of the shore. Was it Ursula? It didn't look like her at all. What we were looking at wasn't even a mermaid.

It was a half-human, half-_octopus_ being with lavender skin. The top side of her octopus half was pitch black and reached up over her chest, resembling a shoulder-less, backless gown. Ursula's hair had become short and stark white with a few grey streaks that stands on end. She also sported a widow's peak hairline. Her beauty mark had almost doubled or even tripled its size. The shell was still around her neck. She had six tentacles as opposed to the eight an octopus would have, but she definitely looked like an octopus.

"Ursula?" Triton asked in awe. "Is…that you?"

"Yes," she said in a deeper voice than that of her original one. He stared at her hands and then screamed at the sky, "What did you do to me!? What kind of magic was that!?"

"It was the darkness," Rika clarified. "It came from our Keyblades." Rika showed Ursula her Darksouls. "With the magic of the trident it must've altered your DNA. You're no longer a _mermaid_."

Ursula pointed the trident at Triton once more. "My beauty is gone! And all of you freaks did this to me!" She pointed the trident at the other four of us before pointing it back at Triton. "If you would've transformed me into a mermaid yourself, dear, this would _not_ have happened!" And then…she jumped forward, off of the beach, over my head, and straight to Triton. Her tentacles wrapped around the king in a suffocating way as she dragged him into the sea below. The other four of us sunk back into the water to follow them.

Ursula, holding onto Triton, led us into the King's throne room within his castle. Ursula threw Triton into his throne and pressed the trident against his throat. "Say goodbye to a life that never had any value anyway." The tips of the trident glowed with golden energy. I had to do something! I pointed my hand at Ursula and…the water around us began to move. A bunch of bubbles appeared out of nowhere and began circling around the trident. The trident was pulled from Ursula's hand, giving Triton the opportunity to grab it in which he did.

"What was that magic I used?" I asked myself.

Domino smiled. "You bended the water to do your bidding. It's similar to Aero magic…now you can command not only air but water as well. You created air within the water and created all of those bubbles. Another skill added to your arsenal of spells, my friend."

Triton, now holding his trident, immediately pressed the staff into Ursula's large neck. "Triton, dear, we can work this out! I never meant any harm. You know me—"

"I _thought _I knew you," Triton corrected. "I…I trusted a human. The first human I could tell _anything to._ You were my friend, my closest one, at that. _More_ than a friend even. Now look at you. Are all humans as ugly as this on the inside?" He paused for second before speaking again. "Get out of my kingdom now. Find some dark corner in the ocean to crawl to. Understand?"

"I was supposed to rule," Ursula spat back. "The sea is what gives the world its strength. Learn that. The human world isn't all that special. You can understand why I did what I did—"

"You played with my emotions, Vanessa," Triton shot back at her. "_Ursula._ Now get out. _Now_." As soon as he said that, Ursula turned around and swam out of the throne room, leaving us behind. He looked to the four of us. "As for you…I can assume you four also came from a world of humans. A world where these _Keyblades_ were created. The weapon of destruction and ruin that turned Vanessa into _that_. I don't want to see you four down here _ever_ again. If I do I won't be as forgiving as I just was with Ursula."

"Okay, but first," I started, remembering why we came into Atlantica in the first place. "We'll leave if we get the _crystal Keyhole_. Ever heard of it?"

"I know what you're talking about," Triton said, floating off of his throne. The throne immediately rose into the air, revealing a hole in the ground beneath it. Within the hole floated a _crystal Keyhole_ that immediately floated out of it and towards us. Along with it floated what looked like a sheet of paper.

"What's this?" Domino asked as the throne sunk back to the ground and Triton took his seat again. He took the sheet of paper in his hand and read the top. "**Disney Report, I**." He looked to me and asked, "Disney wrote this?"

Domino and I both looked at the sheet. I read it silently in my head.

_**Disney Report, I**_

_**Out of nothing I appeared. A world materialized around me that I found myself calling "**_**home**_**". Along with me came another, whom I would call my brother; my best friend. We were the only inhabitants within our little world. A world of pure light, it was. **_

_**We tried to leave, only to realize that there was nothing outside of our world. No light, no dark, just pure nothingness. My brother commanded it and the world outside became dark, shadows casting upon our world of light. There was nothing I could do to get rid of the darkness outside. **_

_**Brother and I got into a massive fight about it. He said the darkness would soon bring other worlds into existence. I chose not to believe him. I was wrong.**_

"This is telling us Disney's past," I deduced. "This is number one…there must be others. Let's not show Disney this. We have to see for ourselves if we can truly trust him."

"Just _leave_ already, I've had enough with all of this nonsense," Triton snapped at us from his throne, his face looking agitated towards us. "_Go_."

And we did. Domino touched the Keyhole with Starlight and we found ourselves back into the mysterious room with Disney. I quickly tucked away the _**Disney Report**_ within my satchel. The crystal Keyhole dissolved into light in front of Disney. He smiled at us and said, "The trip was a success then? Congratulations. Whenever you are ready, another world awaits."

The Keyblade and the darkness had turned Ursula into what she was now…then what kind of damage could we cause in the other worlds!? Domino and I stared into each other's eyes. What if these trips brought Domino closer to destroying the world like he almost did with Utopia?

I couldn't think about that. Domino was a friend. My best friend. He was good. Right?

**.**

**How was this chapter? I always loved the idea that Triton and Ursula could have been best friends or even lovers in the past. So this chapter was detailing why Triton hates the humans like he does, and why he hates the Keyblade as well. I enjoyed writing this chapter! See you in the next!**


	21. I Can Go the Distance

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. Sorry it's been almost a month since our last chapter. I've been typing this off and on, and now it's the longest chapter thus far. I hope you enjoy! The only reason I picked the chapter name to be this song was because I had no other ideas for this world. Oh well. Let's go the distance with this chapter! WHOO!**

**.**

**I Can Go the Distance**

After explaining the situation that had gone on back in Atlantica to Walt Disney—we had decided to leave out the part about the Disney Report—Disney just slowly nodded his head and held out a hand after drawing a quick sketch on his sketchbook, and another portal of light appearing within the center of the room. We were all set to travel to our next destination to obtain our third Crystal Keyhole. I gazed over to his sketch. Clouds, columns, and old towns could be seen. Why did it look so familiar?

"Let's go find that Keyhole," Domino said without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Interlocking our fingers together we stepped into the light, Rika and Asher once again following closely behind. We were immersed within light. When the light died down, we had noticed that we had appeared in the center of a large crowd of people. People of many different shapes and sizes were shouting out at something we had yet to see. I looked above our heads and saw the bright blue sky, a large green mountain in the distance, the top of it being circled by golden-looking clouds. Was that Olympus? Were we in Olympus?

"We're together this time," Rika noted. "Now what's with all the people?"

The crowd around us parted to reveal someone in a heavy suit of golden-colored armor, a large golden sword in his left hand that was about three times as long as himself. A helmet covered his face, a red tuft of fur poking out of the top of the helmet. The crowd around us seemed to go nuts at the sight of this warrior. Speaking of which, the people around us dressed kind of weird. Domino explained that these were what the Greeks wore—whatever the Greeks were—old looking clothing with sandals.

"Who is that?" I asked.

I was immediately given an answer to a stranger to the side of me. "That's Alexios, one of the strongest warriors in all of Greece. He's a tough competitor in the Games." _The Games_? "In fact, he's the champion."

"What games?" Rika asked. She looked to me and Domino and replied, "Why did Disney send us here? There's no time for _games_."

Before Rika could rant some more, the one called Alexios raised two fists into the air and shouted at the sky, "Prepare for the thirteenth annual _Games_! As with all of the other years, this time I will still be the reigning champ of Greece! Who dares to stop one such as I?" Domino's nose hadn't perked up nor had he stated something then, but something about Alexios seemed _dark_ to me. He seemed like the type to gloat about his victories. He seemed to be greedy, desperate to win.

"I dare to stop you, Alexios!" a voice called from somewhere behind us. The crowd behind us parted again to reveal someone else. He was wearing the normal _Greek_ attire. He had slicked back black hair and bright blue eyes. In his right hand was a short dagger. He wore a simple silver chest plate and some sort of armor on his left arm. Besides that, he didn't seem as prepared for battle as Alexios. He looked to be around my age, or maybe even younger. "My name is Erebus! Maybe you don't remember, but thirteen years ago my father contended in these games…he lost to you in the championship round. I'm here to avenge his loss. I'm here to win." Something about him made Domino smile from ear to ear. What was he thinking?

"Very well, boy," Alexios smiled. "I'll see you on the battlefield. I'll be looking forward to it." He clapped his hands together and shouted out, "Those wishing to contend in this year's annual _Games_ tournament, come into the vestibule at once!"

Not far ahead, where he pointed at, was a simple building comprised of stone walls and columns. Alexios marched onward to the building, and following quickly behind was Erebus. Domino looked back to me and said, "Kane, this could be beneficial to your training! Maybe we can enter these _Games_. Whaddaya say?"

"I say you're crazy," Rika said, folding her arms and looking upward at where Mount Olympus was. "Alexios, an undefeated champion thirteen years running? You two do what you want. I'll sit this one out. I'll watch you two battle."

"I'll battle as well!" Asher suddenly shouted out, causing Domino and I to jump. "I need to get stronger for when…for when I face Ibiki. Let's go."

As the crowd around us disbanded, Domino, Rika, Asher, and I headed towards the building a few yards away from us. As we entered the _vestibule_, not many people were inside. There were only six. Two of them, of course, were Alexios and Erebus. Another was wearing a mysterious gray cloak that flapped around behind his legs as he walked and a hood over his head. Asher eyed him suspiciously. The three others were plain warriors, not as built up as Alexios but not as unprepared as Erebus.

"Uh, yeah, I'm not fighting here," Rika said a little loudly, walking to the back wall where an open doorway with chains blocking the entryway was.

He looked around and muttered, "Then there's eight? Hopefully, eventually, the games will get larger than _this_," Alexios grumbled. "Oh well, I'll still get to mop the floor with at least one of you. Here is how the games work! There will be four blocks, Blocks A, B, C, and D. Two contenders will face each other within each block. The four winners that come out of this block will have to fight another winner. The two winners coming out of those fights will face each other. That winner faces me. Understood? There should be someone rounding up the crowds outside to the stands in the back. Out there—" He pointed to the closed off entryway. "—that's the battlefield in which we will be fighting on."

Rika then did something unexpected—or was it _expected _since she's, after all, Rika?—she jumped right over the chains that blocked the entryway leading to the back. She looked back to us and waved, and then rushed down the dark corridor.

Alexios looked shocked to see Rika defying the purpose of those chains. He then ignored her and yelled out, "Erebus! You will be in _Block A_ against Tubby!" One of the other contenders who wore a small suit of armor approached Erebus. He didn't look like he was able to fit that suit of metal armor. "White Hair! You will be in _Block B_ with Mister Mystery!" Did that mean Asher? The person in the gray cloak approached Asher. Asher uneasily held up a hand to the mysterious guy, but the guy didn't want to shake hands. "Golden Eyes! You'll be in Block C with Shorty!" Another one of the contenders in armor approached me. He was short and his helmet seemed to not even fit _my_ head. He looked to almost topple over under the weight of his helmet. "And Purple! You'll be in Block D with…the other guy." Out of names, eh? The last one in armor approached Domino and held a hand out, and the two shook hands.

Alexios continued after that, "The eight of you are to head out to the back! _Block A_'s battle will begin, followed by the other three after a winner is determined."

"Why are we even doing this? This has nothing to do with our mission" My whispering to Domino didn't catch his attention.

"The prize for this championship is something I've cherished for well over thirteen years!" Alexios shouted out. "I've found it a while back and no one has been able to take it from me!" He opened what looked like an old wardrobe in the corner of the room and took out something that was sparkling. In his hands was a Crystal Keyhole! I gripped Domino's shoulder, and my friend nodded. "Be the first to obtain _this_ beauty!"

The only ones even a little shocked at what the prize was were me, Domino, and Asher, as well as the guy dressed in gray and the guy who Domino's supposed to be fighting. Alexios picked the Keyhole back up and thrust his long sword forward and cut right through the chains, shattering them like glass. He led the way into the long dark corridor. The other eight of us followed him in. As we walked through the darkness, the light from the vestibule slowly fading away behind us, the sounds of cheering and screaming fans began overwhelming my ears. They were all here to watch the eight of us battle. Me, Domino, or Asher would have to be victorious against Alexios. We needed that Crystal Keyhole. I then noticed…I was probably the only one without a weapon. I would have to use my magic.

Alexios led us out of the dark corridor where we saw a square in the center of this _coliseum_ where I knew we'd be fighting in. All around this square were the stands where thousands of people stood cheering for the contenders of these _games_. In one of the bleachers nearest to us was Rika, a bag of popcorn in her arms. From the way her eyes looked, it seemed like she was here to watch people be slaughtered, not us trying to win. Very comforting.

Alexios jumped into the ring and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Are you ready for the Games!?"

I muttered, "Shouldn't we be training before the actual games? Shouldn't there be some kind of training session?"

"Who the heck would allow you to train before the fight of your life? You have to be born prepared, boy!" Alexios's answer didn't help me at all. "Now, are you ready to go the distance and win this battle!? See who can take my precious crystal! Block A! Ready for battle!?"

Erebus and _Tubby_ stepped into the ring, Alexios stepping out of it. The two combatants stood on opposite sides of the ring. Erebus slashed his dagger forward for dramatic effect. His dagger was covered in black and golden designs, the tip of it looking extremely sharp. Erebus shifted from foot to foot, looking uneasy at his larger opponent. Tubby unsheathed his own sword. Alexios stood in front of the corridor leading back to the vestibule lobby and clapped his hands together, shouting, "Ready!? Fight!"

As soon as those words were uttered, something within Erebus seemed to click. He leapt forward with such speed that it caught Tubby off guard. Swinging his dagger forward, dark energy seemed to generate at the blade's tip, making the blade elongate into a sword-like, dark weapon. I had never seen the darkness change a weapon's form before. The dark blade slashed at Tubby's armored body, yet the massive contender flew backwards and onto the ground at the edge of the ring. Tubby slowly stood up, showing off the large gash in his armor and the tiny bit of blood leaking down the metal. How had Erebus cut clean through the armor?

Tubby dashed forward, looking as if he would attempt to body slam Erebus. Erebus immediately and swiftly dodged his oncoming opponent. When Tubby dashed passed him, Erebus slammed the blunt of his dagger against the back of Tubby's armor, causing the large man to fall off of the platform with a deafening thud. The darkness quickly vanished from Erebus's dagger, and he quickly hid it within its sheath.

_Unbelievable,_ I thought to myself as I bit my lower lip—bad habit of mine. I could hear Domino to the side of me muttering, "Unbelievable," with wide eyes. He rarely looked at anyone with those eyes except for me or…other opponents who seemed to match Domino's strength. And if this were the case, it shouldn't be a surprise that this kid, Erebus, possessed some form of dark power.

"Unbelievable!" Alexios shouted out, clapping his metal gloved hands above his hands as the rest of the fans cheered on Erebus. "I'd love to see you in more battles, kid! That power, that form, that swiftness—extraordinary!"

Erebus bowed his head with a sense of pride. He looked back up at the cheering fans and smiled, waving at them and making the crowds go wild. All sense of darkness, of power, of uncertainty had faded the minute the match was over. Why was that? I had never seen darkness vanish so quickly before. Sure, Domino could keep his own darkness in check, but it is always _there_. He could just mask it with his emotions. But not this kid. This one was something special. He seemed like a different person. Erebus jumped down.

Alexios raised his voice and yelled, "And time for the second round, Block B! Fighters, take your positions!"

Asher jumped into the ring along with the guy in gray. Asher held an uncertain hand out at the hooded mystery-man. Then I saw why Asher looked so uneasy. If that cloak would have been stark white, it would have been the clothing of a member of the Keyblade Hunters. Yet this one was gray—different. Before the man held his own hand out, I could hear laughing—a voice coming from beneath that gray hood.

Asher raised an eyebrow as the man clutched both sides of his hood. He lifted it up and off of his head, letting it fall behind his shoulders. Asher gasped. The person standing there had long white-gray hair that reached the center of his back, a few bangs framing his face. His eyes were an icy blue. His hair color, his eye color…they were identical to Asher's. He looked to be around eighteen. Asher took a few steps back, looking almost afraid.

"This isn't possible," he said with clenched teeth. "How is this possible!? Who the hell are you?"

"Come on, Phoenix, you can't even recognize your own brother?" What the man said just then caused me to jump. Asher looked as if he were ready to fall over. "What are you, blind? It's me."

"Raven," Asher muttered in fear, clutching his fists as he slowly backed away. "Raven Asher. You shouldn't be alive…you went missing three years ago!"

"Missing? I don't recall going missing." His snarky remark already made me dislike the guy. "Oh, was that why you had all those _Missing Person_ signs laid out across our homeland? Such a shame nobody got that reward."

"You ran away then?" Asher snapped back, taking one step closer to his brother. "You knew Mother and Father were disabled, that they couldn't work on their own! You had a great a job! I was too young then! I couldn't handle the pressure of caring for them! Where did you even go!?"

"Ha, do you not recognize this attire?" Raven asked, running a hand over his gray cloak that billowed in the wind behind him. "I ran away and found Lord Ibiki. I had been planning to run off with him for quite some time."

"_Lord_ Ibiki!?" Asher yelled out. "You didn't tell me where you were going…I thought you died. I went to work to support our family that you left behind! And you know who I worked for? The one person with the one job that was willing to take in a kid like me? _Ibiki_. _Freaking_ Ibiki! We were working under the same person and never saw each other? I worked with him, stayed late nights working under him, rising through the ranks…and one day while I was gone, our parents were—"

"—killed?" Raven finished Asher's sentence.

Asher's eyes grew wide. "Rave, please…" Asher muttered in utter disbelief. "Rave, you didn't?"

"They were Keybearers who deserved what came to them," Raven said, holding out two hands in front of him. "They forced us to wield their accursed weapons…the abominations of the world. Ibiki had me assassinate them."

"You _ran_ away to Ibiki like a coward, had me join Ibiki just so our family can still survive, and then you _kill_ our parents and I'm forced to stay with Ibiki because he wouldn't let me go?" Asher's eyes were stained with tears. "I became the second-in-command of a group of discriminatory murderers for _what_!?"

"Correction," Raven muttered, gray light appearing in both of his hands. "This entire time _I_ have been the true second-in-command of the Keyblade Hunters. I am Lord Ibiki's **_Number 2_**. You were nothing but a cover-up, a figurehead posing as the secondary leader. Someone for the other lackeys to look up to. In actuality, I was the only one Lord Ibiki still trusted. I am also the only one still loyal to him after that mess you and Lucina caused."

"And you also broke Lucina's heart when you went away," Asher said, clutching a fist over his heart. "I told her not to but she chose to join the accursed Hunters along with me in hopes…of seeing you again. She loved you, Raven. And you left her. You left all of us. You…traitor."

"You are in no position to be calling anyone a traitor," Raven scowled, the gray light vanishing from his hands as he pointed a finger at Asher. "Not any of the Hunters, nor you nor Lucina, nor Pierce, could ever satisfy Lord Ibiki. I will take back your head as proof of my loyalty to Lord Ibiki."

The crowd had stayed quiet as the two of them talked. I couldn't believe that Phoenix Asher had a brother…one that was the true second leader of the Hunters. Were against not only Ibiki, but Raven Asher as well.

"And what are you doing here besides showing me that you've been alive and working with Ibiki for three years?" Asher quickly asked.

"I need the Crystal Keyhole," Raven muttered. Those words froze through my very core. What could he possibly want with the Crystal Keyhole? "That and your life. All for Lord Ibiki. Now perish!" Out of a mysterious gray light in Raven's right hand appeared a Keyblade of his own. The left side of the handle was black while the right was white, the centerpiece that he held onto being gray. The shaft of the Key was gray, and in the light of the sun above, it sparkled silver. Going up the shaft were small gray spikes that protruded outward. The actual blade was shaped to look like a sword's tip, spikes protruding from it in the form of its teeth, the silvery points looking extremely sharp. "Nothingness!" Was that the name of his Keyblade? Rather odd.

"Who are you!?" Asher shouted out, summoning his Gunpowder and keeping it at his side, waiting for Raven to make the first move. "You can't be the same Raven…the one who took care of our family, the one who made sure his younger brother was always happy, the one who made Lucina the happiest girl in the world…the one who detested those like Ibiki…but here you are, about to harm your own flesh and blood. Just…who are you?"

"I am no one," came Raven's simple response. "I am nothing. I am nobody. I am but a servant to the world. A servant to Lord Ibiki. You are nothing but a tool at best. I hold no feelings for you. Die by my hand and let the ground be stained by thy blood!"

At those words, the crowd in the stands went wild. All of this important family drama was just a show for these _Greeks_. They thought it was all an act. Some sort of spectacle.

Raven leapt at his brother with Nothingness outstretched, but the attack was quickly blocked by Gunpowder. Raven jumped into the air and back flipped, landing several feet away from Asher. Nothingness was pointed at Asher and a gray light blasted from its pointed tip, slamming Asher square in the chest. Asher was sent flying to the edge of the ring. He balanced himself, leaping back into the fight while swinging Gunpowder forward. From Gunpowder's tip came a bullet of light that shot towards Raven.

And just like that, the bullet pierced through Raven's heart.

Raven stood staring at Asher with widened eyes, a dumbfounded expression laid across his face. His surprised expression quickly turned into a small grin as he reached for the bullet hole in his chest. What came next was horrifying. He had stuck his index finger and his thumb into the wound and pulled out the glowing bullet made of light. The light dissolved from in between his fingers.

"How—?" Asher began saying before getting cut off by Raven.

"I have no heart, idiot," Raven said as if Asher should have known this already. "And thus I cannot be killed by the likes of you. Hearts are for the weak. If you have one, you're either consumed by the light or overflowing with darkness. Getting rid of your heart…gets rid of all these _weak_ emotions. Now die!"

The spikes sticking out from all over Raven's Keyblade shot out towards Asher, implanting each and every one of them within Asher's skin. Two in each leg, two on each arm, one in the stomach and one inches away from his heart. His clothes were stained with blood. He dropped Gunpowder to the ground.

"Asher!" I yelled out as Asher fell to his feet.

Asher closed his eyes and for a split second, he looked as though he were at peace. Like everything bad around him had melted away into nothingness. Like he did not have a single problem in the world. His eyes opened as he stepped forward, grabbing his Keyblade from the ground. The spikes sticking into his knees made him limp, but he trudged onward towards Raven.

"Stop resisting the inevitable!" Raven shouted as Asher made his way even closer to his brother. Asher held a hand out as blood leaked from his lower lip. "It's no use, Phoenix! Give it up!" At last, Asher's hand had reached Raven's shoulder. With one thrust, Nothingness was plunged directly into Asher's heart.

"_ASHER_!" I yelled out, feeling a tear escape my eye. Rika didn't wince at the sight of Asher's blood like I did. She simply turned her head away. Domino however took a few steps closer and balled his hands into fists at his sides.

"Hey! You can't kill people in this tournament!" Alexios's voice didn't reach Raven. Or maybe it did. Raven simply smiled at his accomplishment.

Asher coughed up blood, splattering the red liquid onto Raven's face which made his brother seem even eviler. "It is done," Raven said as Asher fell to his knees. Raven yanked Nothingness out of the poor boy's heart. I felt my heart ready to explode. How could another one I care about leave me!? How many people had to die!? "And now…" Raven looked like he was about to slash through Asher's neck to take home the head of Asher. Instead an eerie calmness settled over the place before the area all around Asher exploded in a column of light.

Everyone in the stands, as well as Alexios and Erebus, were blinded. Domino shielded his eyes from the bright light. Raven quickly jumped away from Asher who looked to be the source of the light. When the light vanished, all wounds on Asher as well as the spikes that were scattered across his body were gone. His eyes were shining with a hot white aura. He held a hand out to Raven.

"Destati?" Domino quickly asked, opening his eyes again at Asher.

It _was_ Destati. Asher's eyes glowed with a fiery hotness, his hair flew around in the nonexistent wind, and the palm of his hand pointing towards Raven had begun to glow white as well. In a mix between Destati and Asher's voices he said, "You shall not interfere with the course of destiny. This boy shall not die for he plays a role in the destiny of the worlds. You hold no consequence. Begone."

Light shot from Asher's hand and hit Raven in the chest, sending him flying from the ring and into the wall on the side of the doorway leading back to the coliseum lobby. Raven stood himself up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. "Why does Phoenix need to live? How great _is_ his destiny? He's nothing but a tool—a broken tool. I need him dead, and I need the crystal Keyhole."

"_You_ are not the one destined to take hold of the crystalized Keyholes," Asher-Destati said in an echoic voice. "And unfortunately you are not destined to die today. _Begone_!"

Raven stood up and in a flash of gray, he vanished. Almost as quickly as Destati appeared, the Goddess of Heart had vanished, Asher's eyes closing. The boy fell onto his knees, free from all of the physical wounds inflicted on him by his brother. He lazily opened his eyes which were still glowing a faint white from the remnants of Destati's light. Opening his mouth to speak, his words were a tad slurred and I couldn't understand him all that well. It sounded something like "I saw…face…it was…beautiful…"

Face? Beautiful? Did he actually _see_ the true form of Destati from within his subconscious? I had to make sure he was truly alright. So I ran up to the ring and jumped in, rushing to Asher's aid and wrapping my arms around the boy. Putting an ear close to his heart I felt a beating so strong and fast that I thought his heart was about to fly into my ear. Letting go of the poor guy, I witnessed Asher falling over and to his side. White tendrils coiled around his arms and legs and into the air, vanishing into nothingness. Both he and Diantha had looked almost the same when they were released from Destati. Was her light _that_ powerful?

Alexios jumped onto the stage and lifted Asher into his arms as if he weighed the same as a feather. In a booming voice he said, "This boy wins because his opponent has left. Depending on his condition after these preliminary rounds, he will either be able to face his next opponent, or forfeit altogether." Alexios jumped down and rested Asher on the wall where Destati had slammed Raven into. "The next round…Block C!"

_Shorty_ had to climb onto stage, working up a sweat as he did so. He unsheathed a short sword of his own and pointed it at me. His eyes underneath his helmet were widened as if he was sure the outcome of this battle will be me winning. Looking as if he wasn't thinking straight, Shorty dashed towards me, letting out a battle cry as if screaming would help.

Lifting up a hand, a bolt of lightning escaped my fingertips and collided with Short's sword, making the sword fly from the small guy's hand. It clattered on the ground outside of the arena. Shorty then looked really scared. He turned his back to me to rush off of the stage to grab his sword. He wasn't so successful. Trying to climb down, his armor weighed him down and he clattered to the ground below a mere inch away from his sword.

Was that really my battle? How easy. Being a good sport I jumped off of the arena and helped the guy up. He smiled beneath his helmet and muttered in a squeaky voice, "Thank…you."

"And for our last round of the preliminaries! Block D!" Alexios hollered.

Domino and his opponent stepped onto the stage and each shook the other's hand. Domino's opponent was around Domino's height. He wasn't completely buff but wasn't a scrawny weakling either. After the two let go of each other's hands, Domino smiled. The look in his eyes…did he recognize the guy? I looked hard at his opponent…there was something about him.

And he took off his helmet, throwing it to the side as if it were utterly useless. His black hair had a bad case of helmet-hair. He ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it out. I couldn't believe this. First Asher's brother showed up, then Destati made her appearance, and now…I was staring at—

"Dante Netherwood," Domino said with a cheeky grin. "I thought I recognized that scent. I could smell your odor a mile away. What brings you here?"

Dante returned the grin and replied, "I've been searching desperately for Sanctuary. I heard that you were here so I decided to enter this tournament."

"What do you mean searching desperately for Sanctuary?" Domino asked with a puzzled look. "Could you not find it?"

"That's just it," Dante replied, his muscled arms suddenly tensing. "I _can't_ find it. It's not where it originally was. If you had a map of the entire universe…then the place Sanctuary used to be would be completely empty. It's like the world never existed. A few hours ago I had run into Robin Cale. We came up with a theory that Sanctuary is a _moving_ world…it doesn't stay in the same place. Each and every world has one spot on the map…they don't ever change positions. Not Sanctuary. It's not there anymore. So now we're on a desperate search to find it."

Hearing those words made me think. Would that mean that Diantha and Damian would have a hard time navigating their way back home? Or maybe the world of Sanctuary moved slowly so that a few hours or weeks away from home wouldn't make a difference. But three years…who knows how different its location would be?

Then Domino began to mouth something to Dante. Was he whispering? Did he not want anyone to hear their conversation? I strained my ears to listen. I shouldn't have been able to hear the two, but suddenly I could hear Domino's voice. Much clearer than just a few seconds ago. "…the plan?" I heard him say.

Dante smiled and whispered back, "Jazz has an entire legion of dark Keybearers searching effortlessly for Sanctuary. They're spreading our dark forces throughout the worlds while they search. It seems the darkness is spread out through a multitude of worlds. They are all searching for the light…of Kingdom Hearts. Our plan is going smoothly."

So the darkness is spreading like a wildfire…this couldn't be good. But there was something I didn't understand. I heard these two perfectly, but everyone else looked like they were struggling to hear the two's conversation. Was I the only one who was hearing them? Did my magic somehow heighten my sense of hearing? Odd.

"Are ya'll two just going to chitchat?" Alexios asked rudely. "Let's begin! The final preliminary match!"

Domino and Dante exchanged one final handshake before springing into battle. Starlight and Oathbreaker were summoned and the two Keybearers exchanged blows. Domino swung Starlight forward, barely scraping the side of Dante's cheek, causing a tiny bit of blood to flow out of the cut. Dante jumped back and pointed the Oathbreaker towards Domino, and a beam of darkness shot towards Domino. Domino swung forth Starlight, making the beam of darkness vanish into thin air.

Dante swung Oathbreaker and slashed at Domino's legs, causing blood to run down and to the floor below him. Dante laughed and said, "That's what you get for letting your boyfriend almost drown me a while back!"

"Boyfriend?" Domino said, darting his eyes to me and then back to Dante. He used a Cure spell and his leg wounds vanished along with the blood. "Please." He slashed Starlight once more and Dante barely dodged it…but the man fell to his knees and _pretended_ to be wounded. What was going on? Domino didn't look so puzzled.

"There's a lot I'd rather do than stay here fighting you," Dante whispered, standing up and getting off of the stage. "I withdraw. Domino is the winner!" He gave a wave at Domino and then me, and he flew off with his Keyblade Glider. Domino looked up at Dante. These plans these two had…they were going to help in the destruction of the light, some way, somehow. What was I to do?

Alexios looked startled as if he never had seen anyone actually forfeit before. "Well then! It is time for the next two matches! You two!" He pointed at Asher and I. Asher looked up lazily and sighed a deep breath, a tiny bit of light escaping his lips. Was Destati's light _that_ powerful? "And you two!" He pointed at Domino and Erebus. The two of them exchanged looks. "The winners of these next two rounds will duke it out for the chance to battle none other than I!"

"Asher's too damaged," I said, stepping up to Alexios as I looked back to the boy sitting against the wall. "He can't fight in that condition."

"Are you telling me that one of our fighters can't fight?" Alexios suddenly snapped. "Very well then. Golden Eyes, I guess this means that you win this match by default. Erebus and the other guy, get up there and show me a real battle."

Domino and Erebus jumped onto the stage. The two shook hands and each walked to their end of the ring. Domino drew Starlight and Erebus drew his dagger. And the two began their battle. Erebus slashed at Domino but Domino simply deflected it, followed by a quick lunge that was immediately dodged by Erebus.

As the two fought, I had time to think about everything that was going on here. I looked to Asher who looked up at me and smiled weakly. His face looked pale and sweat beaded down his forehead. I could only imagine the pain Diantha had been in, being a vessel of Destati for so long.

Asher's brother had made an appearance after three long years of being missing in action…only to reveal himself as the true second-in-command of the Keyblade Hunters. I now had not only Ibiki to deal with, but Raven as well. I then suddenly thought back to three years ago, around the same time when the Keyblades were created, when my parents and brother had left from my life forever, and when Domino arrived along with the other nineteen Keybearers. It was maybe a few days after I was introduced to Tara, Kale, and Ty.

I recall another orphan who had appeared one day. His face suddenly jumped out in my mind. He looked almost similar to Asher. But it wasn't him. Get rid of his spikey haircut and replace it with with long hair and you had Raven's appearance. Raven was another one of the orphans! That couldn't have been long after the Keyblade Hunters were founded…and Raven had left Asher, their family, and Lucina behind. But then one day…Raven just vanished. I remember asking Ibiki what had happened to the older orphan but Ibiki would never tell. Ibiki must have been hiding the boy.

Another thing on my mind that was bothering me was the appearance of Destati. She had saved Asher's life, not as an act of kindness, but simply because fate has something in store for him. And I believed her. I was given a glimpse of the future via a dream a while back. I had seen that Asher was on my side. He was destined to be a part of the war against the darkness. Destati simply intervened because Raven was going to change fate. I should be thanking the Goddess or whatever she was, but she still left some residual light in both Diantha and Asher that were causing them pain.

And then there was what Raven said…why would Ibiki and Raven be searching for the Crystal Keyholes? What were they hoping to achieve? I had realized then that we hadn't seen the last of the Keyblade Hunters. I had thought that after the other members had sided with Asher and Lucina rather than their former master, we wouldn't have to deal with the Hunters anymore. I was wrong. Ibiki and Raven still posed a great threat to us and our mission.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden yelp. I looked up and saw Domino on his knees, the dagger held by Erebus piercing through his chest and sticking out of his back. The dagger _couldn't _have been that long. But then I saw it. The dagger was elongated, the longer blade created by the darkness just like earlier. Domino clutched the blade in his chest with both hands, drawing blood that dripped onto the arena's floor. With a quick pull he yanked it out of his chest and fell over with a thud.

"Cure!" came Domino's voice, and Domino immediately sprung to his feet with nothing of the stab to show other than the slit in his shirt. And then Domino exploded. A tornado of darkness formed around my purple haired friend and blasted Erebus away, sending him flying out of the arena and conveniently into Alexios's arms.

Erebus's eyes were widened as if he had never seen such strength before. Or maybe he hadn't seen anyone else use the darkness like that before. Besides himself. "Where did that power come from?" I heard Erebus ask.

I smiled, running up to and jumping into the ring. Domino was to be my next opponent. I've always wanted to test my strength against him and see if I could actually defeat him in battle. I was now going to get my shot. Alexios looked a little angered that I hadn't waited for him to announce the next battle. He dropped Erebus and crossed his arms, waiting for either me or Domino to make the first move.

The two of us stood on opposite sides of the ring, staring into each other's eyes. There was something in his eyes that almost seemed…overpowering, to say the least. The gaze he held seemed as if all of this was destined. That one day the two of us would meet and battle and the winner will decide the fate of…what? The fate of the unknown. The fate of what's to come. Sadly, or maybe thankfully, that time wasn't today.

A blast of light shot from the sky above and landed in the arena in between Domino and I. The light felt amazing and friendly…not at all like Destati's. I saw a hand escape the light and press into Domino's chest, causing my friend to fly out of the ring and into the wall outside. I got into a battle stance. Maybe this light wasn't so friendly after all. The light died down, revealing the person who was standing within it.

And I knew her. It was the woman that had somewhat helped us in our fight against Chernabog earlier. The one who's face was hidden beneath black bandages. All of her face was covered except for one feature. Her left eye. A golden eye. _My_ eye. She held a hand out in front of her and yelled out, "_Stop_!" Suddenly I felt as if the world around me simply…stopped. The chatter had halted. I couldn't hear the chirping of birds. I looked around me. The scenery around me looked to be gray. Everything was frozen in time. Even Domino who lay motionless on the ground. But I wasn't.

I felt lightning spark around my fingertips as I said, "Who are you? What did you do?"

"Simple time magic," the woman before me replied. She sounded to be around eighteen, maybe nineteen. "I've been watching you for some time now. Since the start of your journey, in fact. I had to meet you. At least once. So hello there, Kane Carter."

"Watching me for some time?" I asked myself, until my brain connected the dots. "That comet! I've seen it and felt it…its light felt...warm. Like a friend. That was you…wasn't it?"

"Sadly, it wasn't," came her response. "I can see by now you're noticing differences in the types of lights. There's Destati's light…not an ounce of darkness within. Unforgiving and cruel that doesn't leave you without leaving a mark." She pointed at Asher. "Then there's artificial light...it could never come close to the real thing. And then there's the light you felt from that comet, and the one you feel from me. The light of friendship…the _true_ light. It's warm and peaceful."

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"You can call me whatever you like for the time being," the woman said, floating a few inches off of the ground. "I came here to stop you and Domino's battle. Destiny has not planned for the Battle of Fate to happen. Yet. So much like Destati, I intervene in certain worlds to make sure nobody tries to change fate. Except I don't try to wipe out the darkness completely. I look for balance. After I leave here, time will resume and everybody will assume that you have beaten Domino. But first, for now, I must test your strength."

Black lightning danced across her fingertips. _Black_ lightning? It didn't feel like darkness, but it sure made my skin crawl as if it was truly powerful. She swiped her hand through the air and I narrowly dodged a slap to the face, backing up until my heels touched the edge of the arena. She balled a fist and whenever she released her fist, an orb of fire floated inches away from her palm. It shot towards me, and I simply deflected it with a strike of white lightning.

She started unraveling a few of her bandages to where I could see her mouth. Now I could see not only her left golden eye, but her pale pink lips as well. And then she blew, and I was hit with a strong gust of wind that sent me flying off of the arena. I landed on my feet, but I stumbled and almost tripped over in the process. I thought I had good enough magic skills…but this woman put all of that to shame.

She swiped her foot through the air and a shockwave of lightning and ice mixed together blasted towards me. I fell to the ground to dodge it, but as soon as I stood up again I saw that shooting from her mouth was _fire_! I jumped to the side to avoid being it. What could I do to even beat her?

She jumped to the ground off of the stage and as she landed, a tremor traveled through the ground and shook me. I was unable to move. All I could do is stand there shaking as I felt this powerful shockwave. She vanished into light and reappeared right behind me. I whipped around to see that she wasn't there anymore. I felt her behind me once again. I…couldn't do _anything_.

So I ran. I ran towards the corridor that led back to the lobby. But it was too late. She was now standing in front of the corridor with a hand outstretched. And from her palm came a huge black bolt of lightning that entered my chest and exited my back. I felt a searing pain…and I felt…different. The lightning vanished and I fell to my knees. Why was that black lightning so familiar? I tried to create a ball of fire to blast towards the woman, but nothing happened. It was as if all my magic had vanished.

"Why do you have this much magic?" I asked her, feeling the fear inside me grow larger as she walked closer to me. "I thought I—"

"We are of the same blood," she said simply. "We have the same golden eyes, the same silver hair, and the same magic skills. I've just been training a lot longer than you have. This black lightning has the power to strip people of their magic. But it can also awaken the magic inside of them." She sent another bolt of black lightning through me. I felt a tingling pain, but soon after I felt stronger. More in control. I stood up. "See?"

"The black lightning," I said, casting a Cure spell over my body to wake me up since I was becoming more and more exhausted from this battle. "It was the lightning that hit me on the day Domino and I left Utopia. That…was you?" The woman nodded. I _knew_ something was up. The black lightning that struck me, that gave me my abilities, and that gave me this silver hair…it was all the work of this relative of mine. She awakened the magic inside of me. "You really have been with me all this time."

Her eyes darted towards the sky. I saw what she was looking at. A white comet that filled we with a warm light yet again traveled through the sky and vanished over the horizon. The woman looked back to me and said, "It would appear someone else has been watching you as well." She raised a hand and the two of us lifted off of the ground and flew towards the arena, and we landed safely on its floor. "I have to leave now. Just remember that I'll always be keeping an eye on you. It's what your father asked of me before his death."

"My father?" I asked. As soon as I blinked, she was gone. Domino was now standing in front of me, and color returned to the world. Domino simply fell to his knees. I helped the boy up and said slowly, "Looks like…I win."

"Unbelievable!" came Alexios's bewildered cry. The two of us stepped off of the stage and greeted Alexios. His eyes widened and he looked towards the sky. What was up? "I'm sorry but…it looks like the title match has to be postponed. I…have some business to take care of. You can…have the crystal I've held for so long."

"That isn't fair!" Erebus shouted out. "I needed to win…I needed to _beat_ you! This isn't fair—" His eyes darted to the corridor leading back to the lobby. Domino and Rika seemed to sense something as well. I thought I could hear something as well…like a chuckle. "What is that?"

Erebus rushed into the corridor, and Domino followed without hesitation. Rika rushed after the two. Alexios went after them. I went to Asher and helped the boy up. He found it hard to stand up on his own, but he managed. I helped him along and the two of us rushed out of the coliseum and to the lobby. Once we were there I saw someone I hadn't thought I'd ever see again.

Standing in the center of the room was Hades, the God of the Underworld and Lord of the Dead himself, holding the Crystal Keyhole in his hands. "Ah, would you look at this? The gang's all here to witness my triumph!" He clutched a fist and pumped into the air as if he had just won a war. His eyes scanned the room and fell upon each and every one of us. "This Crystal sure is a beauty, isn't it?" He looked to Asher and smirked. "And you came to me to get rid of Domino all that time ago…yet here you are siding with him? Please. Talk about loser with a capital L." His eyes fell upon Erebus. "I can sense a powerful darkness within you…how about I help you harness it? I can control the darkness like no other!"

While Hades was babbling on, I managed to do something I hadn't thought I would be able to do. The woman I met minutes before inspired this technique. Whereas she blew the air, I sucked it in. Inhaling the air around me, the Keyhole was sucked from Hades' hand and into mine. I smiled with victory. It had worked!

"Come on, kid, we got a show to run," Hades said, vanishing into black smoke and reappearing behind Erebus. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, and the two vanished into black smoke. "And uh, hey, tell the other gods I said hello. I'll be looking forward to seeing you guys again. Really. I'm serious. See you then, small fries."

Hades had vanished with Erebus. Not much happened after that. Alexios told us that we didn't have to stick around. He'd pray to the gods to help Erebus out. So the four of us—Domino, Rika, Asher, and I—stepped out of the vestibule and into the open sunlight again with the crystalized Keyhole in my hands. Before Domino could point Starlight at it to send us back to Walt Disney, I could hear a voice screaming at us.

Flying from the sky and skidding to a halt next to us was Hermes, that messenger god who had delivered Diantha's letter. In his hand was a scroll of paper. He handed it to me and said, "I don't know how the fates did this, but somehow this letter was destined to be sent to you guys today. I've been keeping it for some time, not knowing what to do with it," Hermes said. "Take it." Without another word, the god flew away with his winged sandals.

I unraveled the scroll and held the paper out before us. It was another Disney Report!

**_Disney Report, II_**

**_Soon a third being came into existence alongside us. It called itself the Goddess of Heart. _****Destati****_. When her and I were alone, she'd tell me that my brother was not to be trusted. That he would be the reason everything bad would happen in the world. So she told me in order to fight the darkness I'd need to create some worlds on the outside to house people with hearts that could fight the darkness._**

**_But when I began creating the worlds outside, there were already worlds out there. They were simply spawning from the the darkness. I confronted my brother and he had said that all worlds must begin in darkness. That was the way of things. Destati said otherwise, that the light must create the worlds to fight off the darkness. That creating this darkness was changing fate._**

**_While my brother was all about the darkness, Destati was a being filled with, dare I say it, too _****much********_light. But what was I? I was for balance. These two would have to get along. Destati began creating more worlds of pure light while my brother created more worlds from within the darkness. I sat by and watched. Their feuds would never end. _**

With that, Domino and I exchanged looks. Domino said, "From the looks of the first and second entries of these _Disney Reports_, Disney must have lived…in the very first world. Are we collecting these crystals to—" He didn't have time to finish that sentence. Rika had taken out Darksouls and shot a beam of darkness at the crystal keyhole. We were immersed in light. We would soon be back with Walt Disney.

I guess we now knew how the worlds came to be. Disney, his brother, and Destati had helped to create all of the worlds we have today. What he said also made me wonder. Domino and Rika and their followers fought for the darkness. Destati was willing to do anything to protect the light and vanquish the darkness. Where did that lead me? I too, sought balance.

**.**

**So...how'd you like this longer chapter? Hopefully it won't take as long next time to type the next chapter. See you then!**


	22. Society

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. I apologize for the slower updates. Really, I am. Between trying (and nearly failing) to finish my school work, dealing with family and friendship and school drama, dealing with the sudden lack of inspiration-flow, and a few other things I'd rather not mention, I rarely have time to type (though I seem to have time for every other thing in the universe). But hopefully these interferences aren't ****_that_****consistent. Hopefully you don't hold it against me if we go a month or two without a new chapter. If you have any questions about this story, leave it in a review or PM me. **

**1\. What do you think about me including worlds from the Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars universes? I have quite a few world ideas but I'm not exactly sure how to execute them.**

**2\. If you list a certain world you want, or if you ask me to bring back a previous world, you may also lend me an OC that will appear ONLY in that world. So this could include talking animals, superheroes, etc., whatever you want that FITS that world. So neither of these characters should be a Keybearer unless they are from the following: Utopia, Daybreak Town, Radiant Garden, or Sanctuary. **

**3\. You don't mind this story being too long, do you? This was really going to be a fic on ****_just_****the Keyblade War but I have ideas for much more, but of course it all essentially leads up to the War. So please don't complain about too much filler or unnecessary story elements.**

**That should be all I guess. Rather long author's note. You could skip it if you like. Wait. If you're reading this that means you already read the entire thing so…maybe I should put that at the beginning? Nah. Hehe, anyway, leave your thoughts on this next chapter and all the others to follow!**

**Also, from this chapter on I will stop using song titles for my chapter names because I have a hard time naming them now.**

**.**

**Society**

I really wish I had brought back some headphones from home. As soon as we got back into the room with Disney, my eardrum was shattered by Domino's extremely loud voice. "When were you gonna tell us!?" I looked to Domino in an attempt to tell him that we shouldn't tell Disney our knowledge of him and his homeworld just yet. Domino's gaze never left Disney.

"You had me believe that we were doing unnecessary work for some stranger we didn't even know for some _treasure_. But…you come from Kingdom Hearts!? What are you? Some sort of God?" Disney gave Domino a puzzled look as if he wasn't sure what Domino was talking about. Domino marched to Disney's desk and shoved the crumpled piece of paper of Disney's second report into the man's face. "This! Why would you write something like this if it weren't true? You some sort of liar or what?"

"I'm not the only one who's being dishonest," Disney said as he lowered his eyes. I saw what he was staring at. In front of him lying on his desk was his first journal entry we had found in Atlantica. Had the man been rifling through my satchel while we were gone? "I cannot understand why you would keep this from me. I _intended_ for you to find it. You must know by now that people like Destati and I can read destiny. The Prophecy of the Universe foretold four youths attempting to collect the seven crystal keyholes as well as finding these _Disney Reports_ in the process." _Attempting? _

"Destati being your sister would have been a good thing to mention," Asher muttered through shaky breaths. His skin was becoming its normal hue again, he seemed to stop sweating, and he was now able to stand up straight on his own two feet.

I decided to break up the arguing by saying, "How did the portal send us to where we needed to be? It's like we were there at the right place at the right time to find the keyhole."

"Like I said, for heroes like you, Kane, the universe makes it so no matter where you go, you'll always be there in the right place at the right time," Disney responded. I started to understand things a little more.

Domino didn't seem to be interested in that. For not even a millisecond I could have sworn that I saw Domino crack a small smile, but it went straight into a frown again. He threw the paper of the second Disney Report onto the desk and turned around and said, "Whatever."

Then I saw something. The paper landed so the back of the page was facing me. And I thought I saw writing. I hurried and snatched the page off of the desk to examine it. At the top of the page, drawn in golden ink, seemed to be what looked like a keyhole with an icy blue circle around it. The words "_Knowledge_", "_Fate_", "_Destiny_", "_Keyblade_", "_Keyhole_", and what appeared to be the letter "_X_" were written around the circle.

Names, most I recognized, were written underneath the circled Keyhole in this order:

**Walt Disney**

**Destati**

**Merlin**

**Enix Square**

**Demetrius Starr**

**Zachariah Asher**

**Ibiki Kamikaze**

I looked up at Disney who simply had his eyes closed with a small smile across his face. I showed the names to Domino, Rika, and Asher. All of their eyes widened. They seemed more shocked than they needed to be. Disney was one of the names. Of course. Destati was as well. No surprise there considering her and Disney both had come from Kingdom Hearts. Merlin was there—Rika's previous guardian. Enix…why was he there? Demetrius Starr…who was he? Then I remembered. He was Domino's father. I wasn't sure who Zachariah was, but he had the last name _Asher_. Then there was Ibiki…

"What is this for?" Domino asked, staring at Disney while pointing at the paper in my hands. "This is such a random list of names. What did my father have to do with you, or Merlin, or Enix or Ibiki?"

"Zachariah," Asher muttered, staring with widened eyes at the name on the list. "He was my father. Why is he on here?"

"I guess I must inform you," Disney said slowly as he stood up with his hands behind his back. He turned around and looked out the window behind him and up at the stars. "I founded an organization many years ago in which people such as Merlin, Ibiki, Domino's father, Phoenix's father, and Kane's father were included in."

_What? _"My father?" I asked. "My father's been gone for three years. None of these names belonged to him."

"It is time for the truth," Disney muttered, not looking back at us. "Kane, your father was Enix Square, creator of the Keyblades."

That didn't make much sense until I remembered something Enix had said when I had first met him. When he had noticed my hair and eye colors.

_"__The silver hair and golden eyes are traits that belonged to your late mother. Your father…he loved that hair. You look so much like your mother and like…like…your father, too."_ When he had said that he had tears in his eyes. Why hadn't I put the pieces together before? He was talking about himself. The creator of the Keyblades…was my own father?

I was speechless. He had been alive all of that time. But he was killed…by Ibiki. I…why didn't I see it? Then I thought about it. I _should _have remembered what my father looked like but…before I had met Enix I hadn't really thought about him much. His face didn't ring any bells…why didn't I see it?

"What was this Organization all about?" Rika asked. "Why was Father Merlin involved? Why were any of these people involved?"

"The Secret Society of the Keyhole," Disney said as he turned to face us once more. "A secret Organization unknown to anyone else. It was dedicated to finding out the mysteries and secrets of the universe and all it holds. We were supposed to work together to find the crystal keyholes to enter my homeworld, but more than a few of them met their ends."

He sure got that right. The fathers of not only me but Asher and Domino as well were dead.

Disney continued, "I will tell you each of their roles in this society. I owe you at least that. As I've stated before, I founded this Society. Destati also wanted to be able to enter Kingdom Hearts so she joined my cause, fighting off the darkness and keeping track for anomalies in the Destiny of the Universe. Merlin watches over the worlds and makes sure order is maintained, utilizing his Magician's Council in Daybreak Town for this cause. Enix was a researcher who began developing the Keys to unlock Kingdom Hearts but…he made them too much like weapons; we tried to cease his production of the Keyblades because we saw what ruin it could bring in the future…he continued and completed his operation anyhow. Demetrius worked alongside Enix and was one of the first ever Keybearers besides Enix himself; he began dabbling in the Dark Arts and was unable to be brought back to the light. Zachariah owned a multi-billion-dollar company in his homeworld and used the company's funds to fund our Society as well as Enix's production of the Keyblades. Ibiki went behind our backs and began stealing those funds to create his own technology and to further some research of his own as well as to form his own group, the Keyblade Hunters." He turned his back to us as he looked out the window once more. "Need I repeat myself?"

Blue smoke appeared out of nowhere in the corner of the room. Standing amidst the smoke was Merlin. Wow, what timing! He walked over to Disney's desk without acknowledging the rest of our presences, and spoke with a rather serious tone, "One of the crystalized Keyholes is no longer stationary. A creature from another world found a way to utilize this crystal and sent itself flying into the Lanes Between."

"What's happening, Father Merlin?" Rika asked, stepping up to her guardian.

"Rika, it's good to see you again, but this is a matter between old friends," Merlin snapped back, staring into the back of the head of Disney who continued to stare out the window with little emotion. "The crystals were not meant for anyone but you to use. Now it is being used as some transportation device."

Disney looked back at Merlin and said, "Kane, Domino, Phoenix, and Rika are the four chosen to gather the Keyholes and bring them to me. This will be the fourth that is gathered." Great. We hadn't rested for long and now we'd be thrown back into another world or…_wherever_ this _creature_ is. The Lanes Between? Disney took a page from his sketchbook and began scribbling a rather large picture that looked like…a whale? I've only seen whales in the textbooks and the movies shown at school. Were we going to see an actual whale? He held a hand above the drawing of the whale and the beast began to glow white. The light died down and Disney said, "I've tracked down the creature."

A portal of light appeared in the center of the room as always. "How is this whale traveling through the Lanes just because of some crystalized Keyhole?" I asked since nobody seemed to be worried about that.

"Each crystal holds a piece of the light of Kingdom Hearts," came Disney's simple response. "You can use that power to do practically anything—good or bad. It could open a way into Kingdom Hearts. It could allow you access to other worlds without the need for a Keyblade or magic. Some say it could create riches beyond your wildest dreams while others say it could power up a super weapon that will destroy all worlds. We'd best not let the seven we're after get into the wrong hands." When he said that he darted his eyes downward as if he knew something we didn't. He and Destati could see the future via this _Prophecy of the Universe_ so he probably already knew what would happen after we retrieve these crystals. He knew our destiny.

Without another word Domino dragged me into the portal of light, Asher and Rika not far behind. I was immediately hit with the cool air of space. Opening my eyes, I saw that we were standing on the crystalized road of the Lanes Between. Rika and Asher were on the side of us. Throughout the endless sky, every now and again I would see a Keyblade Glider fly by. I wondered how many of these were lost while looking for Sanctuary.

And then I saw something in the distance, several Keybearers flying away from it in fear. I strained my eyes to see it, but all I could see was a dark blue-grey blob. It then turned to face me and began speeding towards us, majestically dodging the many roads leading to the other worlds. I then saw it for what it was. It was a dark, blue-grey whale! The sight of this majestic creature flying around in space as if it were in water was completely breathtaking.

"There it is," Rika said, drawing Darksouls. "It has the crystal Keyhole. We must fight it!" She blasted a beam of darkness from the tip of her Keyblade and it slammed into the beast, but the creature didn't seem to be slowing down. "Impervious to the darkness?"

"I have this," Domino muttered, pointing Starlight at the whale that was coming ever closer. "Dark Firaga!" A ball of flames appeared on the tip of his Keyblade, and the ball was soon engulfed in a purple and black darkness. The ball shot towards the whale. The whale simply opened his mouth and swallowed the ball of dark fire whole. "Okay…it's getting too close for comfort now."

It was within ten yards of us with no intent on stopping. I had to do something. It was too late to cast any magic on it. The darkness from Domino and Rika didn't seem to stop it. It was getting closer and closer and—

Without much thinking I pushed Domino, Rika, and Asher out of the way, and the four of us fell down farther to the right just as the whale blasted through the crystalized road, chomping down that section of the road. It now flew behind us, going farther away from us. I helped Domino up and Rika and Asher stood up as well. I had just nearly saved them. A few inches from us there was a gaping gap in between two sections of the road. We would have been eaten if I hadn't pushed us out of the way.

"Thanks," Asher and Domino said in unison. Rika just stared behind us where the whale slowly turned around as if ready to come back for desert.

And then the whale charged forward, this time much faster than before. It opened its giant mouth to reveal rows of teeth. It was too late. In seconds…all went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a large room filled with with water. Wait, room? No, it wasn't a room. Judging on the way things looks and the teeth I could see in the distance…I was in the whale's _mouth_. I was floating on my back in water that I guessed was from the whale's homeworld. As I stood up I found myself standing waist-deep in water.

What I saw around me seemed almost…unreal. Pieces of buildings and houses as well as bits and pieces of the crystalized road littered the water. In the distance I could see what looked like the wreckage of a large cruise ship. I started walking towards it, all the while being slowed down by the water, and finally stood in front of the wreckage of the Titanic, split in two. "No way," I muttered. How did it end up here? The whale ate it whole?

I heard the sound of water splashing and I quickly turned around. Asher's head had broken free of the water. To his side was Rika, lying on her back as she stared up at the roof of the whale's mouth. I felt a hand on my shoulder and cocked my head to the side to see Domino. The four of us then looked at the wreckage of the once great ship. I ran my fingers along the side of the Titanic until I felt a sort of carving. Looking at it, I saw the carving in the side of the ship was that of a Keyhole.

"This must be destiny," said a voice over our heads. We all looked up to see a man standing on the top of the wreckage. It was Robin Cale—Six—wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. There was a mysterious black and purple bruise on his shoulder that was about the size of a fist. "That, or just really terrible luck."

"Good to see you, Six!" I shouted up at him. "How long have you been here?"

"Well, ten days," Six replied.

"That's not possible," Domino interjected. "We had just met up with Dante back in another world…he said he had recently ran into you. But you've been in here for _ten_ days?"

"The whale we are inside is called Monstro," Six said, turning his back to us, allowing us to see the six scars on his back. "The world he's from, called Prankster's Paradise, is just like all the other worlds, with its own time flow. Three hours of _Sanctuary_ time is around the equivalent of ten days in _Prankster's Paradise_. For some reason, being inside Monstro gives us the same flow of time as his home world. Quite a mystery, I'd say."

"But you love mysteries," I replied with a small smile.

Six replied with, "That I do."

"Speaking of mysteries," Asher said, stepping closer to the Titanic and looking up at Six. "What's with that weird bruise?"

Six immediately covered the bruise on his right shoulder, clutching it as if that would make it vanish. "Mere moments ago a ball of fire and darkness came hurtling at me. I didn't even have a chance." Oh no. I shot Domino a look. He darted his eyes to me as if to say _It's not like I meant to hurt him_. Changing the subject, Six said, "Monstro is being powered up by a mysterious crystal deep within his heart. It's speeding up his metabolism, it's allowing him to traverse the worlds…and the more he eats, the larger he gets. This Titanic was just the tip of the iceberg—" Ironic, right? "—but surely there's more to come. He'll eventually grow to the size where he could swallow worlds whole. He'll become his own world. That is his ultimate destiny. We have to break this destiny."

He held a hand out and a portal of pink light began to glow in front of the titanic. "This should lead to his heart," Six continued. "Go in." He didn't have to tell me twice. Stepping into the portal of pink light, I felt my clothing drying off. My friends weren't far behind me. When the light died down I was bathed in darkness.

The six of us were in a dark chamber. The walls and floor looked spongy and soft. The darkness was suddenly illuminated by a bright light which quickly faded. In seconds I saw where it came from. The light appeared again. In the center of the chamber we were in was a crystal keyhole that lit up every time the heart of Monstro would beat.

"The crystal is connected to his heart," Rika noted. "If we try to take it…the whale will die. It must be done."

"It's a living creature!" I yelled out, stepping in front of the crystal to protect it. "The whale will not die."

"We have a mission," Rika countered.

"To find the crystals and protect everyone."

"We are protecting everyone from this creature."

"This whale is in that _everyone_ category."

"Do not try throwing these useless morals of yours around. We came here to fulfill a mission." Did Rika really not care about the life of a living creature? In her hand appeared Darksouls, which she pointed directly at me. "Move aside or I'll splatter your insides all over the place. The crystal is ours. The whale is dead. Now move."

Rika's tone scared me. I looked to Domino who looked like he wanted to do something but was deciding against it. He looked torn. Why wasn't Domino saying anything? I slowly moved aside, and a beam of darkness shot from the tip of Darksouls. Six and I gasped, awaiting the inevitable. But the darkness was simply deflected off of the crystalized surface of the keyhole, shooting back into Darksouls' tip.

"What?" Rika asked in surprise.

Six stepped up to the keyhole and said, "Monstro and the crystalized keyhole have a symbiotic relationship. The crystal gives what Monstro's heart deeply desires, and Monstro's heart emits a certain frequency of sound that protects the crystal from all attacks. He's indestructible."

I held my hand out to the crystal but before I could even touch it, the room around us shook. When we stopped shaking, I then noticed four Shadows rise from the floor in a circle around me. On instinct lightning rained from above, electrocuting and vanquishing the four Shadows around me. Knowing how the Heartless operate, more wouldn't be far behind. The worst was yet to come.

Neoshadows leapt from the walls to attack Domino, and he quickly sliced through them with Starlight. An endless amount of Shadows and Neoshadows began walking through the walls around us, Darkballs swooping down from the ceiling and flying around us like bats.

"What are _they_ doing here!?" Asher yelled out, kicking a Shadow that had latched itself onto his leg. As that Shadow hit the ground, five more stood up from the shadows and attacked Asher, but a quick firing of five bullets destroyed them.

"Monstro's heart yearns to see his dark desires," Six explained, though I wasn't quite sure what that meant. "His heart is conjuring these dark denizens. Monstro's heart is destined to wander the worlds forever, making Monstro swallow everything in his way. We need to stop him. With the crystal he can accomplish eternal life. I believe he's absorbed enough power. The best we can hope for is that he stays in his world after we take the crystal…if only for at least a few years."

I felt a stinging pain and looked down to see at least seven Darkballs biting into my skin, drawing blood that splashed onto the floor of Monstro's heart.

"Kane!" Six yelled out, extending my hand to me. "Take my hand! I've been dying to try out an attack, and I think you have enough light to help me achieve it!"

Without much thought, I grabbed hold of his hand. I saw a light shining from in between our hands. And then we were immersed in light. I heard a scream. When the light died down, all of the Heartless around were gone, as if they were never here. On the ground, her body steaming with bright white tendrils rising into the air, was Rika. I hadn't realized she was _that_ deep into the darkness that the light could _hurt_ her. She slowly stood up.

"Warn me first, why don't you?" Rika breathed. "The Heartless are gone…but what next?"

I placed a hand on the crystal and thought that I could hear something. Whispers. I could hear the heart of Monstro whispering. Monstro yearned to see the outside world. He wanted to be larger than life. He wanted his existence to mean something. And thus his darkness was created. I understood now. His desires formed the darkness within him. And I silently told him, barely above a whisper, "Seeing the outside is your destiny…but that time has not come to pass. Patience…you must be patient." In a flash of light, the crystalized keyhole was in my hands, no longer blinking from the beast's heartbeat.

The area around us began to glow white. Six yelled out, "The crystal's power within the beast is fading fast! In seconds he'll be back where he belongs!" Domino immediately pointed Starlight at the Keyhole and I closed my eyes. When I opened them, we were standing in Disney's room, the keyhole on his desk, slowly vanishing into light. "Whoa, where am I?"

"Hello, Robin Cale," came Disney's voice from behind the desk. Standing to his side was Merlin, a smile on his face. "I'm glad that you are here, and that all of you are friends. Looks like destiny isn't in jeopardy." He darted his eyes downward. There it was again. Something was wrong. He knew something. "Oh, Robin, you have something for us?"

What was he talking about? Six's eyes widened and then he quickly grabbed something from his pocket. It was a wrinkled sheet of paper…and I somehow knew that it was the third Disney Report. He must have found it from within Monstro. I quickly grabbed it but…my vision went white. I was beginning to see something. Another vision?

I saw myself…ten years ago. I was young, my hair was still black. I was around six years old. I was laying on the floor of…the exact room all of us and Disney were standing in today. I held a bronze coin in front of my face in wonder. I tossed it into the air and caught it. Tossing it again…it was snatched from me before I could grab it. I yelled out in a high pitched voice, "Domin-o!" My six year old self quickly scrambled to my feet.

I was staring into silver eyes. It couldn't be…a seven year old Domino! I had known him back then? He held the biggest grin ever, and in between his fingers was my coin. "Let's see," he said in his high pitched voice. "What can I buy with one Munny?"

"Hey, give that back!" I yelled out, jumping at Domino to try and snatch my coin back. Domino was faster and kept a distance between us. "Hey! Domino!"

"Finders keepers," Domino said cockily and began walking away from me.

"Oh come on!" I yelled out and tackled Domino to the ground. The coin flew from his hand and into the air, but it was quickly snatched again by someone else. Domino and I looked from where we lay to see a younger version of…Asher? "Phoe-Phoe, give that back!"

"Stop calling me that!" The four-year-old Asher yelled out. "It's Asher…Phoenix Asher!"

"Please calm down, you three," came a voice from up ahead. Standing behind the desk was of course Walt Disney. To his side was Merlin. In front of the desk, looking at us and the one who had spoken, was Domino's father, Demetrius Starr. He had short dark purple hair and silvery eyes. He had bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for weeks. "Mister Disney, Mister Square, and I are discussing things."

Standing to Domino's father's side was…my father, Enix Square. He looked to me with his gray eyes and put a finger to his lips that kept me quiet.

Talking in the corner of the room were two others. One I recognized: Ibiki. He looked considerably younger. As if in only ten years, he had aged twenty years. Talking to him was someone else who I had to guess was Zachariah, Phoenix and Raven's father. His eyes looked dull as if he were…blind. He was sitting in a wheel chair and looking straight ahead as he talked to Ibiki. His white hair was styled into several dreadlocks that fell behind his wheelchair and would have reached his waist.

"I do not want to discuss my personal endeavors with you, Zachariah Asher," Ibiki's voice boomed, disturbing the conversation being held by Demetrius, Enix, and Disney. "We have to help each other out. It is our duty. Your company has millions. I am only taking thousands."

"Disney, speak some sense to this man! His mental capacity is that of a squirrel," Zachariah said in a scratchy voice. "What's mine is mine and will always be mine. Understood, Kamikaze?"

"I'm out of here," Ibiki said, a circle of light appearing underneath his feet. "What you do not realize, Zachariah, is that my research will save lives. Just you wait and see." Ibiki vanished in a flash of light.

"I have to leave as well," Demetrius suddenly said. "For the upcoming war I must be prepared. I must train some more. Good day, Enix, my friend." He walked away from the desk and took Domino by the hand. "Come on, Domino. We can't just leave your mother and your brother and sister all alone."

"Domino!" I yelled after him, rushing to my friend and embracing him in a tight hug. I quickly let go and said, "Bye! I'll see you next time!"

"Okay," Domino simply said, smiling as he and his father walked out the door.

Merlin whispered something into Disney's ear and vanished in a puff of blue smoke. I heard the door behind us opening and stepping through was an eight year old Raven. He ran up to his father and put his hands on the man's shoulders. "I had another dream," he muttered, and I could see a few tars drip down his eyes.

"Brother?' Phoenix asked quietly.

Raven didn't respond to his little brother. "You died again…in my dream. Why are you always dead!? Why can't I have a dream of you alive!?"

"Listen, Raven," Zachariah said in a now calming voice. "You have a gift to see destiny. If I die in your dreams, then—"

"You don't know anything about my dreams!" Raven raised his voice. "You don't know what I feel. I want you alive. Be alive!"

Zachariah simply shook his head. "I'm sorry, but if your dream says I'll die, then destiny has already written itself. I have gazed into the future as well. You will find peace…you will not be sad, or angry…all of your emotions that hold you back from completing _your _destiny will be gone. You'll be free."

"What do I do? I can save you! Tell me…who kills you!? I'll…I'll…"

"If I tell you that, destiny will be rewritten," Zachariah replied. "That, or destiny will try even harder to prevent you from changing anything. One of the outcomes of stopping my death will result in the both of us dying. That is not what destiny originally planned."

"He is just a child," Enix snapped at Zachariah. "He does not need to know _anything _of destiny or what fate has in store."

"Oh, but he does, or else destiny will be altered," Zachariah said calmly. "Son, listen to me. Cast away your useless emotions. Feel no sadness or regret or remorse. Do not try to stop the person that kills me…instead embrace my death with open arms as it will drive you to be a bigger person. You will not be held down by some old guy like me."

"_Who_ kills you!?" Raven yelled again.

"Cast away your heart and all the sadness it holds," Zachariah said, wheeling himself to Disney's desk. It still amazed me how he hadn't slammed himself into the desk even though he was blind. "Do not deny destiny. Doing so did this to me." He waved his hands around himself. Did trying to alter destiny…do _that_ to him!? In a flash of light, Zachariah and Raven vanished. Phoenix looked to me and waved before vanishing in the same light the others left in.

I was now alone with Enix and Disney. Enix turned to tell me something but—

My vision cleared. No time had passed in the real world. I held the third Disney Report in front of my face. Before reading it I thought for a moment. I had known Domino and the Ashers long before the Keyblades were invented. Our families were all in this secret society.

Disney looked at me as if he had known I had just seen something. He knew of my visions? Merlin quickly vanished in a puff of blue smoke as per usual. Did he ever say goodbye?

Looking down at the Disney Report, Six, Asher, Rika, Domino, and I began to read.

**_Disney Report, III_**

**_It seemed as if all of the worlds were in existence. The universe outside of our home was perfect. Worlds of light and worlds of darkness were together in perfect harmony. My brother, Destati, and I were proud of our works. Destati then warned me of an oncoming danger. The scale of_********_balance was about to be altered. And she was right._**

**_My brother began to feel bored living in our world with just the three of us so he tried to create denizens to reside in our world alongside us. But these were creatures of darkness. They were heartless being. They found a way out of our world and attacked the citizens of the many other worlds. My brother didn't think much of it, so he let it continue. Destati and I tried our hardest to vanquish this dark threat, but to no avail._**

**_I created a mythical beast to exterminate these dark forces, but the darkness overtook my beloved creature. He became mad with power and darkness. He turned on me. And he was about to destroy our world. My brother saw no other choice so he banished each and every dark denizen, including my creation. He said they were in an entirely new realm. What realm was it?_**

I gave Disney the third report. If I read this correctly…his brother was the person who created the Heartless. He had banished them to save their world. And that creature…was obviously Chernabog. The darkness corrupted the beast. I then spoke up, "Now that all of this is out of the way…I saw the past. I remembered. Before the Keyblades…I saw your '_Secret Society_'. You, Merlin, my dad, Domino's dad, Asher's dad, and Ibiki. I didn't know I knew all of them before…three years ago."

The others seemed extremely confused.

"The society began falling apart," Disney replied. "Enix wanted to create thousands of weapons and Demetrius was one of the first to wield one, using that to utilize the darkness within him. Ibiki began funding for his research and the birth of his Keyblade Hunter army, using the money from Zachariah's company. Destati was nowhere to be found. Things were a complete mess. We couldn't risk the secret of our society getting out, so I erased your memories in case any memories of the past would stay."

Domino warmed up to me so fast three years ago because in his heart he had known that he had met me somewhere before…and then we became good friends! I then replied, "And Raven was having dreams of the future. Of his dad's death. His dad told him to cast away his heart, to embrace destiny…and Raven eventually listened, following Ibiki's orders to kill not only his father but his mother as well. Casting away his heart was the only way to ease the pain of the loss of his parents as well as losing his little brother."

"Uh…how do you know all of this?" Asher asked.

"I have these visions—"

Disney interrupted by saying, "Young Kane has the magical gift of Sight. He can see flashes of the past, glimpses of the future, and everything happening in the present. If he can learn to control this ability, he can see anything, anywhere, anytime."

My eyes widened. Does this mean I could see what the outcome of destiny was? I had an extraordinary gift…I had to learn how to use it.

I had to.

**.**

**How'd you like this new chapter? I hope you're enjoying the many plot elements I keep throwing in there. SO MANY REVELATIONS! A secret society, how the heartless were formed, Kane's ability of seeing everything that ever was, is, or will be...GAH SO MUCH! I'll see you next time! Things are starting to heat up! WHOOT WHOOT!**


	23. Twin Worlds

**Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obviously. How's your summer break going? I'm sorry I have been away from this story but things kept coming up, I lost inspiration, had writer's block, yada yada yada. Anyway, if you want, I'll tell you exactly WHY I haven't updated in a while. This next chapter was supposed to present the world of Neverland. I'm sorry if you were hoping for this Disney world but alas, I could not find the inspiration to finish it. I must have written it about three times in the span of two months but I just couldn't. So while I worked on that I was developing the plot of this chapter which in the end eventually replaced the Neverland chapter. I won't spoil anything that will be in this chapter, nor will I spoil what would have been in the Neverland chapter, assuming I ever put that chapter in some later part. Anyway, enough rambling. Warning: This chapter contains blood. Maybe a lot, maybe a little. This chapter takes on a far more serious tone. If it disturbs you…some of this fic is just NOT for you! Anyway, let's get into this!**

**.**

**Twin Worlds**

Sight. That's what Disney called my special ability of seeing into the past, future…and pretty much everything. Domino said he had never heard of it. After that day—the day we had learned about the mysterious Society of the Keyhole—we had waited a couple of days until traveling to a new world. We hadn't heard from people like Six or Dante, so either they had found Sanctuary and stayed there, or they were still looking. In the meantime I went out onto the courtyard of the Mysterious Castle and practiced using magic. I greatly improved my Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder abilities. I think _all_ of them were level two spells now.

"I have received word from Merlin," came Disney's voice. I looked up at him from where I stood. He was on the steps to the tower. "I think the two of you need to hear this." Domino quickly jumped to my side. Rika was inside napping while Asher…well who knows where that boy had run off to. "The crystalized Keyhole belonging to the world of Utopia is no longer within that world. Any chance we had at using that specific Keyhole is gone now."

"What?" Domino shouted immediately. "How could it just _vanish_ like that!?" Disney shook his head. He must have known. He, his brother, Destati, and a select few others could foresee all of destiny. He had to have known of what happened to it and when it happened.

A bright white portal appeared high in the sky above our heads. Landing only feet from us Asher, who must have exited through that portal. The portal in the sky vanished. I gave him a puzzled look as if to ask where he had been. Asher responded with, "I had to check in with Lucina." That's all he said. I wonder what happened while he was gone.

"Hello, Kane," a female voice said. Kane recognized it. He backed up two feet and a bright light shone directly in front of him where he had been standing at seconds before. The light diminished and standing there was the mysterious girl from a few times before. Her face was still covered with those black bandages. Instead of saying something, I just waved. "It is almost time for my identity to be revealed." Her left eye sparkled with golden light. I was almost mesmerized. She put her hand on one loose bandage. She looked like she was getting ready to strip herself of those bandages. But something stopped herself.

The ground rumbled.

It was so subtle that I could barely feel it, but Disney, Domino, and the mystery girl instantly went on alert. Every few seconds the ground shook some more. I looked up to the tower to see that even it was shaking. And then an eruption of noise followed.

A powerful blast of noise nearly knocked Asher and I to the ground. I covered my ears. It was earsplitting, as if you were sitting next to an atomic bomb as it went off, only, well, you're not dying because obviously you'd be dead right away but if you could still hear it that would probably mean that you're not dead…well, you get the picture. My gaze drifted away from the tower and to the sky. A bright star—perhaps the closest one to this tiny world—exploded in a flurry of light and darkness.

It looked like the light and darkness that once made up that world were having a war in the sky, swirling around one another and fighting as it sent tremors through the air and noise was heard from all directions. The light and darkness warring in the sky now looked like a huge orb of black and white, swirling endlessly in the sky. The orb grew and grew, taking only a few surrounding stars into its chaos.

"What the hell?" Domino yelled out.

"What's happening?" Asher said, slamming his face into the ground and covering his ears, trying to escape the noise.

"The world's been destroyed," the mysterious girl in an ominous voice. "The light and darkness of that world were fighting to take control. If they keep fighting like that for a long time, the world is destroyed under the immense pressure the war of light and darkness brings."

"So you're saying if the light and darkness stay out of perfect harmony, and they war over which one is the best, then the world is destroyed?" I asked. The girl nodded. Just a nod. But it was just enough to make something click into my mind. If Domino wants the darkness to be supreme and superior to light…what if the light fights back just as hard? What would that mean for the worlds? Would everyone be in danger?

Domino didn't seem concerned with that. He didn't even seem to care. He just stared up at the sky, not saying a word. I felt a tug at my heart. A quick thought hit me—were we too close? Were we going to die? What was going to happen? Could we get out of this? Okay, maybe a quick thousand thoughts rushed through my mind. And then in a quick flash, the chaos happening in the sky that was growing ever larger just…vanished. Not even a millisecond later, I felt myself rising off of the ground. I was encased in light. Had it gotten to us?

That wasn't possible. I looked down and saw each of my friends standing on the ground below me. it was only taking me. The light around me vanished. All was dark. I thought hit me—as if I didn't have enough terrible thoughts already—was I dead? Could I actually have died? This isn't what destiny had intended. I was supposed to…fight in some sort of war. I was dead. I had to be now. It dawned on me. How long was I in this expanse of blackness? I thought of my home. Of Utopia. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be with Domino, sitting at the shore of the Lake of Destiny one last time. I wanted to taste Tara's fried chicken. I wanted to be attacked by Kale and Ty daily as part of their "Keyblade practice" with their toy swords. I wanted to be scolded by Ibiki—the one I grew up with, not whatever monster he had become. I wanted Utopia.

And I got it. It took my eyes time to readjust, but I could see things now. The sky was dark. Clouds covered the sky so I couldn't see the stars above. The smell was unpleasant. Smog covered the world around me. But one thing was certain. I was in Utopia. My brain went into overdrive. I tried to think of multiple theories, of possibilities, or _anything_ that could tell me how I got here. My first thought after that was to yell out "DESTATI?!" I mean, I had wished to be here once before and Destati brought me here in my mind. I could've been here for another test. But Destati never responded.

A cat ran passed my leg. Its fur was filthy and it ran into the side of a building as it ran away from something. Where was I standing? I was standing on the edge of the big bridge. Or what was left of it. There was only half of the bridge left. At the halfway point of the bridge, it looked to have been broken in half. The edge of it was splintered and broken up. This was the edge I was standing on. One wrong move and I would have plummeted many feet into the dark ocean below. I had to do a double take. Dark ocean? The Great Lake below was no longer its crystal clear color. It looked black.

I screamed. I'll admit it. I screamed like a little girl. I fell backwards and onto my butt. This bridge and that lake…I had known them since I was born. Now they looked like…this. It wasn't even that bad seeing the entire city flooded, but now it was flooded _and_ looked completely…depressing. Sad.

"K-Kane, are you ready?" I heard a familiar voice say. I quickly stood up and looked behind me. Standing on the beginning of the bridge was…Domino.

"Domino?" I asked, rushing to him. Whatever I did to make him flinch, I didn't know. That's right. The brave Domino jumped backwards at the sight of me running towards him. "What's wrong?" I held a hand out for him to take as he had almost fallen over, but he let himself fall down with a thud. "Domino?"

"I asked…" Domino stood up to his feet and backed a few feet away from me. "Are…you ready?" I kept silent. I had no idea of what he was asking of me. I shrugged. "Just take it and get it over with!"

"Take what!?" I asked. My outburst made him jump again, but this time he quickly recovered and looked me square in the eye. He then looked to my hair. Why was he interested in my hair? "Something wrong? What's going on?"

"You're not him," Domino said, looking as if a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. "You're not him…" He reached forward and grabbed a strand of my silver hair, and then released it. He repeated those same three words about six times. What did he mean? I'm not _who_? "You're not—"

"Yes, we established this already," I said, trying to stay calm. "Just tell me what's going on here, Domino. What… happened here?"

"I…I know w-what happened h-here, y-yes…" Domino said shyly. He did not look alright at all. Bags hung under his eyes, his long purple hair seemed even longer and messier, his face was pale, and his silver eyes were just…dull. "Y-you happened…I mean…no, not _y-you_…" He fell to his knees and wept. He was crying?

"Did I…do something wrong?" I asked him.

"No!" Domino yelled out…not out of anger, but almost out of fear. "I'll tell you…" His face had become more normal and less pale than before. He was steadily relaxing. "We've been reading about what would happen…in destiny, you see. What could've happened yesterday, three weeks from now, in a decade…today. The books He gave us spoke of a hero…f-from another dimension. Another…_here_. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," I told him. "Another dimension? Like…an alternate universe? Like the ones they have in those movies?"

"You yourself are from another universe…another dimension," Domino said in a shaky voice. "I thought…you were…well, _you_…but you're _not_ you…I mean, you are you but…not the _you_ I know…" He slapped himself hard across the face and blurted out, "I'm sorry, Kane! Um…as you probably have figured out, I'm not the Domino you know. We're in a completely different, uh, _flipside_ of the Utopia you live on. I thought you were the Kane of _this_ Utopia but…you couldn't possibly be. You seem nice…and your hair. My Kane has black hair."

So…if I got all of this straight, not only did they have more than a million worlds out there, but each of those worlds probably had multiple…realities…to them? It was a confusing concept.

"I have to take you to my house," Domino said, quickly turning away from me and pointing away from the bridge to where his house would normally be at. "Everyone is over there. We'll explain the situation." Suddenly he was sounding way more serious than the Domino I know and love. He got frightened easily but was serious when he felt he was safe. He grabbed my hand and yanked me, rushing me off of the bridge, passing the Kamikaze Home.

I stopped dead in my tracks, looking at the Home. It wasn't there. The place I had known for so long was no longer there. I looked to Domino. He quickly said, "The Kamikaze Home…was destroyed a year ago. Along with that bridge." He pointed back to the bridge.

"What happened to them?" I asked, trying to not shed a tear at the sight of home being gone.

"You, uh, destroyed them," Domino said. Domino must've seen my widening eyes so he quickly continued with, "The uh, this world's version…of you. He…destroyed…a lot of the, uh, places in Utopia he hated. I'm sorry. I'll leave Tara to explain everything for you."

"_Tara_!?" I shouted, stopping right in front of Domino's house before he could even get into the doorway. Tara was _alive_ in this world? I then noticed Domino's house. It wasn't a house. It was an old, wooden shack with no windows and a single door that didn't even seem to be attached to its hinges. In fact, there were no hinges. Domino opened the door by grabbing it, lifting it into the air, and taking it away from the opening in the wall. I took that as my cue to walk in. Domino came in after me and closed the door by closing off the big gaping hole in the wall. What I saw next made me say, "Holy Hades."

Sitting against the very back wall of the shack were the unmistakable faces of Kale Kamikaze and Ty Skye. But they were almost completely bald. Kale had little stubs of pink hair sticking out of his scalp. A single pink bang hung in his eye. It looked weird and slightly depressing. Completely bald except for a few tiny stubs and one long bang. Ty _was_ completely bald. Not a single stub of hair stuck out on his head. Their eyes looked like they hadn't closed in ages. Kale and Ty were wearing nothing but rags. Dirt covered their arms and legs, hands and bare feet, and even their faces. They looked to have lead a rough life.

Who I saw next made me shed a tear. She was dead in my world. Domino had accidentally killed her. Yet here she was. _Tara. _She wore a white t-shirt that was a tad dirty along with short blue jeans and leather boots. Dirt was smudged on her face. Her hair…was shorter than my own. Whereas I had shoulder-length hair, her hair barely went below her ears. Her eyes held a serious gaze.

When I stepped into the only room this shack had, Kale and Ty had begun to cower in the corner of the room. They were frightened.

Tara immediately went into an attack mode. She gripped a knife from a holster on her thigh. She immediately drew the knife and threw it at me. I didn't have time to think. I was too caught up in the moment of seeing old faces. But Domino intercepted it. For a guy who seemed timid and scared before, he certain jumped into action pretty quickly. His arm extended so his hand was in front of my face, and with that hand he grabbed the knife. The knife was so close to my face that the tip of the point was poking my nose.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Starr?" Tara yelled at Domino. Her voice seemed extremely serious and sounded a bit deeper than I had last heard it. And…I don't recall her even knowing Domino's last name. "Wait…" She sized me up before saying, "His hair's silver. This one isn't our Kane." She looked into my eyes and said, "My sincerest apologies. Thank you, Domino, for being on red alert."

"Y-yes ma'am," Domino said, sounding almost _afraid_ of her, and he walked to the corner of the room and comforting the two boys who didn't dare say a word. "E-explain everything to h-him, Tara."

"Of course," Tara said, stepping towards me in confident strides. "You met Domino so I can assume he already blurted out everything even though we already established _I'd_ be the one to explain things to people." She snapped a look to Domino who nearly jumped out of his skin at that comment. "Well, he must have told you the gist of things. This world is another version, another side, of your own. Anyone who was born and raised or who has ever lived in your Utopia has another version of his or herself in this one. Including you, Kane. Most of the times, no two versions of the same person are exactly alike. You seem like a good kid. Not threatening at all." She said that with a bit of sass to her voice. "The version of you in this world is dangerous. He's downright evil. He's caused all of this carnage. _He_ flooded this town and killed thousands. The group you see before you would be considered a large percentage of the people left on Utopia."

That part of the story made me completely speechless. In this version of reality, _I_ was the one to flood Utopia? _Not_ Domino? And bigger still…I was evil? From the looks of things, I caused a lot of mayhem here. I was…_evil_. No. I had to snap out of it. _I_ wasn't evil. My…uh…alternate universe counterpart was. How many people _were_ still alive if this was a _large_ percentage?

"Domino's going to be meeting with the evil Kane," Tara continued. "It's at that point we'll strike. We have to try all we got to save this world."

"Why is Domino meeting with him?" I asked.

"He wants this," Domino said, and Starlight appeared in his hand. So in this version of Utopia, he owned a Keyblade as well. Good to know. "There's a way to perform an…inheritance ceremony on someone…to give them the ability to wield a Keyblade. But the power awakens at random times…who knows when someone would get that power?"

"So Domino has to allow the Kane of this world to drink his blood," Tara finished. "Drinking the blood of a Keyblade wielder, as odd as it sounds, completely gets rid of his ability to own a Keyblade himself. Instead the power is transferred to Kane, giving him the Keyblade, Starlight, as well. Kane is finally at full power. To be complete he needs a Keyblade of his own. Who knows what he'll do…"

"I see," I told her. I put my hands on her shoulders. She almost jumped from the sudden contact. She hadn't expected this move. "I'd love to help in any way I can." Tara seemed to drop her serious act. She even smiled a bit. Her eyes seemed to twinkle. "Where I come from, we were close friends. I'd help you out with anything, Tara."

Tara closed her eyes and thought for a moment, and then opened them again. "You said _were_…you said 'w_ere close friends'_. Am I to assume that I'm dead in your world now?" I hadn't even realized I said _were_. And I pay a lot of attention to detail. I nodded. She nodded back. And then she leaned upwards and placed a soft kiss upon my lips. She stood up straight again. I had no idea of what to think about what had just happened. She just smiled, but her face quickly hardened.

Domino quickly jumped up from where he sat with the kids. He and Tara were on alert. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Can't you feel it?" Tara asked. "It's like we can feel the temperature drop every time…_he's_ here." She shot a quick look to Domino. "Don't be afraid, Domino. Go and meet up with the other Kane. Our Kane. I'll stay back here and inspect the meeting from afar. And you—" She looked back to me as if completely ignoring the fact that she had kissed me a minute ago. "—follow Domino but don't get too close. I want you to use your eyes and ears to check in on their meeting. You can find out about what kind of guy your counterpart is."

My eyes and ears? She must've meant my special powers of Sight and how I can hear things so well. I shook Tara's hand and ran after Domino towards the door. He kicked it open. The two of us dashed out of his shack. He ran straight for the bridge. I lingered behind, not wanting to be seen. I stayed behind a building that stood next to where the Kamikaze Home should have been. I activated my Sight.

I don't know how, but from where I was, I could now see Domino running onto the bridge. He ran to the halfway point, where it seemed like the entire other half of the bridge was gone. Standing at the very edge, his toes hanging off of the splintered edge of the bridge, was who I could guess was…the _me_ of this world. He had black hair that was slightly longer than the hair I had now. In fact, his hair seemed even _darker_ than mine when I still had black hair.

The boy turned towards Domino who stood shaking in his presence. He wore a black shirt with a dark gray jacket along with black jean pants and dark shoes. Nothing I would normally wear; it was too dark. His hair was a tad messy. His eyes radiated with gold energy. They seemed more…sinister…than my own.

(For the sake of less confusion for anybody reading this journal, I will call him Kane. Since, well, _I'm_ writing this, I never normally write MY name down so it shouldn't be confusing if I actually write Kane as his name.)

Kane smirked. He stared directly into Domino's eyes which caused him to back away slightly. "What's the matter?" Kane said in a sinister voice. His voice was like mine…but it was as if I could feel the darkness echoing off of his voice. It was terrifying. At the sound of his voice Domino backed away three more steps. Kane chuckled. "Don't go chickening out now, my precious Domino. We had a deal and I'll make sure you keep your end of the bargain."

Domino reached in his pocket and took out a knife. He held it to his wrist and said, "K-Kane…why does it have to be like this? There once was a time that we _were_ friends. W-why aren't we f-friends a-anymore?" Before Domino could say any more, Kane reached his arm out and clutched Domino's throat with his fingers. I could hear his fingers as they pressed against Domino's skin. It was a sickening sound. "O-o-okay!" Domino cried out, and Kane released the poor boy.

"No more questions, please," Kane said, licking his lips. I half expected his tongue to be forked. Domino stared at the silver knife barely touching his skin. "Do you need a demonstration?" He yanked the knife from Domino's hand and slit a huge cut going up his forearm. Blood streamed down, and not even a second later the wound shut on its own. I hadn't even heard Kane say a spell or even try to conjure a spell. How strong _was_ this version of me!? Domino refused to say or do anything. "What? You need help? Fine." He gripped Domino's arm and cut into it. As soon as the wound was created, Kane threw the knife to the ground. This was sick to watch…how could anyone be so evil like this?

Kane raised Domino's arm up to his lips. It looked like…he was ready to suck the blood right out of him, like a vampire. Domino would have been drained of a little blood if not for the flying knife that cut through the air at Kane's face. Kane immediately pushed Domino out of the way, sending him flying from the bridge to the building I hid behind. He slammed into the brick wall, almost denting it. The knife stopped in midair in front of Kane's face, then turned around and shot in the opposite direction.

I heard a scream. I saw someone else on the bridge. Tara. She had thrown the knife, but Kane had made the knife retaliate. The knife was planted firmly in her shoulder, blood staining her clothing. After that one scream she showed no emotion. She gripped the knife and yanked it out of her shoulder. Domino found me behind the building. I put a hand over his bloody wound and sealed the cut.

"I trusted you, Domino!" Kane shouted over to Domino. "I would have just obtained your Keyblade and nobody would have gotten hurt." Kane laughed out loud. "Just kidding! As soon as I would have gotten the damn Keyblade I would've stabbed you right in your puny heart and killed you right then and there. But I mean, come on. Getting your girlfriend to try and help you? Do you _want_ more people to die?" This guy was seriously sadistic.

I tried to remain hidden behind the corner of the building while Domino stood facing Kane from in front of the building. Tara was at the beginning of the bridge facing down Kane.

"A puny little girl with no backup?" Kane asked. "Pathetic. Worthless." With the flick of his wrist, Tara was sent magically flying over the left side of the bridge. Before she could fall down she grabbed onto the side for dear life. "Great reaction. Looks like you aren't completely suicidal after all."

"Tara!" I instinctively yelled. I thought she would fall soon. I felt the need to yell. But Kane looked directly at where I was hiding as if he saw through walls. And with my luck, he _could_ see through walls and that he knew I was here the entire time. I figured I couldn't stay hiding any longer. I stepped out from my hiding place. Together Domino and I walked to the beginning of the bridge.

"Well, would you look at this?" Kane smiled, licking his lips again. While his attention was focused on me, Domino rushed to the side and helped Tara back onto the bridge. "You're me. You know, I've been waiting for you to arrive for years. Though I guess you aren't as smart in your world so you probably had no idea of my existence before today. Correct?" I clenched my teeth. This guy was really screwed up. "Oh yeah, I know all there is to know about you and where you come from. You only _just_ discovered your powers. I've been working on perfecting mine for over three years."

Three years? More than that even? How strong _was_ he!?

"What?" Kane asked, hands on his hips. "Speechless? You can't say it's like looking in a mirror. Our hair's different." He emphasized this with the tug of a strand of his hair. He smiled wickedly. "Plus, I look a lot cooler than you. I mean, whoever saw a guy with silver hair before? Silver hair? Golden eyes? Not a good combination." A flame appeared in the palms of his hands. "I know a lot more than you will ever know. I've gotten more practice." He extended both hands towards the sky and columns of flames rose from his hands and shot to the sky, disappearing beyond the clouds. "You see, in your world, you spent most of your time simply traveling the worlds, finding your magical abilities along the way. I, however, started earlier and stayed home _until_ I mastered _EVERYTHING_. And with a Keyblade I will achieve…everything."

He bent his neck backwards so his face would be facing the sky. He opened his mouth and let out a maniacal laugh…and black lightning shot from his open mouth and to the sky. As soon as the lightning reached the sky it began raining, lightning striking down on all corners of Utopia. Black water spouts rose up from the waters below, extending upwards until they reached the dark sky above. The entire world began to shake.

"Domino, I need your blood," Kane said, his smile fading into a menacing scowl. "I can then obtain your Keyblade and this world will finally be destroyed. Then it'll only be a matter of time before I begin my reign on each and every other world out there! I am the Prince of Darkness!" He jerked a hand forward and immediately the same wound he caused on Domino earlier had opened up as if I had never Cured it at all. Kane's mouth opened and Domino's blood shot from the wound and into Kane's mouth. I was stunned. I had never, ever seen anything like this.

I quickly Cured his arm again. Hopefully some of his blood regenerated as well.

Kane held out a hand and out of pure darkness came Starlight. Domino flicked his wrist a few times. Starlight never appeared. Then it was true…Domino—well, of this world—no longer owned the Keyblade known as Starlight.

"Prince of Darkness? Really?" I asked, trying to keep my cool. It wasn't working that well. "You sound like some kinda stereotypical villain, out to destroy all worlds."

"Destroy all worlds?" Kane asked, pointing Starlight menacingly at me. "I want to conquer all worlds! This world holds no more meaning to me. You, the version of me from another world, will die along with everyone else here. Thank you, Domino, for the awesome Keyblade."

"You're a monster, Kane," Tara yelled at the evil version of me in front of us. "We grew up under the same roof…and you destroyed the place. Why? Did Ibiki's death mean nothing to you?" _Ibiki was dead in this world_?

"You know as well as I that he had a plan to kill Domino to ensure I never obtained this," Kane said while waving Starlight around. "The man had to die. And man was it fun. His heart didn't stand a chance."

"Stop talking," I snapped at him. I raised a hand and a ball of fire shot from it and zoomed in on Kane. But it vanished before it made contact. "Is there _anything_ that could hurt you?"

"Your voice," Kane shot back with a smirk. "Ooh, what's this?" He took his attention away from us to look back at Domino's shack. Standing outside of the doorway were Kale and Ty. They must have gotten out to see what was going on. This was the worst possible time to do that. "Let's see…I could kill them now or wait for the destruction of this world to take them away. I vote for…now." A blast of black lightning shot from the clouds above Kane and straight towards the two little kids who were too scared to move.

"Destati, you know what to do!" Tara yelled out and pointed her hand at the two kids. _Destati_!? Immediately after she said that, a white beam of light shot from her fingertips and rocketed towards Kale and Ty. The glowing light found its way to the two kids and surrounded them, protecting them. In a flash Kale, Ty, and the light that was Destati had vanished. Black lightning slammed into the wooden shack, shattering it and sending a shower of wooden splinters into the air. I looked at Tara in shock. "Destati has been using my body as a host. Good thing; I was able to save them just in time." She was right. I was finding it strange she left the two kids by themselves, but she had prepared for that. Smart girl.

"You bitch," Kane snarled. "You realize I could stop the flow of blood in your system. It'd kill you pretty quickly." Tara hesitated before attacking. "Or should I stop the air from entering your lungs? Maybe…" With the flick of his wrist, Tara's leg twisted and she fell to the ground. I thought I heard something in there crack. "Broken leg." He snapped his fingers. Tara's arm twisted in a way it shouldn't. "Broken arm." He closed his eyes and smirked evilly. "And now…" At the bow of his head Tara's neck twisted. She slammed the back of her head on the ground. "Ding dong, the bitch is dead."

"Tara!" both Domino and I shouted.

"But wait, there's more!" Kane said with a laugh, and instantly Tara began standing up. Her leg and arm and neck seemed fine now. Had she been…? "Oh, yeah, the fifth level spell, Curaza. Strong enough to bring someone back to life."

"What—?" Domino rushed to Tara and wrapped his arms around her. Domino of this world really does care about Tara.

"Quit playing games," I told my evil counterpart. This guy was pissing me off more and more. He toyed with life and death as if they were, well, toys.

"But games are fun," Kane said. "I _suppose_ we can settle this in a fight to the death. If I win, and kill you, this world dies and each and every other world is mine to control. An army of darkness will reign under the name of Kane Carter, the true prince of pure darkness! If you win and I die…well, I _can't _die…then we'll see how this goes."

"Don't fall for Kane's mind games, uh, Kane," Tara told me in a shaky voice. She pushed herself away from Domino and stepped up to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I'll call upon the Goddess of Heart once again and have her whisk us away from this world. We'll be saved. She'll send you back to your world. While you go home, we'll prepare for when he builds up his dark army. You cannot be involved any longer."

"I have to help," I told her. "He's me. I should be the one to face him."

"That's just it!" Tara shouted forcefully at me. "He's _not_ you! The two of you are polar opposites. He'll ether destroy you, or the two of you will be stuck in an infinite match without a winner. I'm not asking you to leave. I'm _telling_ you. Get out of here and be the savior of _your_ world, not ours." Suddenly her eyes began glowing white. "Other Kane, stay back. Domino, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." A glowing Keyblade of Light appeared in her left hand. "Destati and I will finish this."

Without another word Tara leapt into the air at a surprising momentum. She darted straight for Kane. She swung her Keyblade at Kane, but it was simply deflected by some sort of barrier around him. She kept slamming the bright blade against the barrier, attempting to break it. While she did this, Kane just laughed. He didn't even attack her. He just stood there laughing. I was disgusted. My heart began beating fast and my breaths became heavy. This guy was a true monster. It freaked me out…how he looked somewhat liked me and yet he was capable of this much carnage.

I tried to step forward to do something but Domino held his arm out in front of me to keep me from going near the battle. It was no use. Whatever Tara ordered, Domino had to follow through. So it looked like I wasn't going to be joining the battle.

Tara landed on the ground feet away from Kane. She pointed her Keyblade of light at him and a beam of pure light shot at Kane, slamming into the barrier around him and deflecting upwards, the light blasting into the sky. Where the light disappeared beyond the sky, the clouds began to disperse, and a little light shone through. She slammed her Keyblade into the barrier once more…and it shattered. No sooner than that and Kane shot his arm out and grabbed hold of Tara's Keyblade of light. The Keyblade vanished in a flurry of light.

Tara gasped and jumped backwards. Kane was too strong. Kane let out a bellow of laughter. He looked to me and said, "If you give in to the darkness, you can be as strong as I. Let your hatred of others fester and boil inside of you. Turn every other emotion into rage. You won't feel sadness from ending a pathetic world like this. Together, we'll be unstoppable. What do you say? You and I are a lot more alike than you might think." He held a hand out for me to grab. I didn't take it.

Instead something happened. Something big. I had never wanted to witness something like this, but I did. While Kane's attention was focused completely on me, Domino rushed forwards without either of us even noticing. I hadn't noticed until he was directly in front of Kane. He wrapped his arms around the other version of me and slammed into him, pushing him backwards. And just like that, the two went soaring over the cracked edge of the bridge. Tara immediately rushed to the edge to look down. I did the same. I saw Domino restricting Kane. The two were flailing around as the fell through the air to the water below. And the two hit the water, sinking below the surface.

"Domino…" Tara cried out, falling to her knees. "If…Domino can keep restricting Kane like that…Kane will drown and die. This world will be saved. But Domino…" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Domino wouldn't want me to cry. He'd want me to press on like I always do."

"I'm sorry…" I said, speechless. I felt myself tearing up. Even if that Domino hadn't been the one I grew up with…it was still Domino. Knowing that he was dying this very second scared me. It made me sad. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more…"

"Don't be sorry," Tara said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. I felt a surge of light rush through me that warmed me to my very core. I had felt this feeling before. "I did not want to put you in harm's way. You need to stay alive, for your world's sake."

"That is quite true," a voice came from behind us. I turned around to see none other than Walt Disney. He looked the exact same but I knew he was this reality's interpretation of him. "Kane, I have a few things for you before you depart this world." He held a hand towards me, and in it was an old looking scroll. On it in bold letters was the Roman numeral for four. It had to be the fourth Disney Report. I took it and pocketed it. "Take this as well." Appearing out of thin air in between us was a crystal Keyhole. "Every world, including ones from the other dimensions, has a crystal like this. Take it." I placed a hand on the smooth surface of the Keyhole and it vanished into light. It would be able to go with me back to my reality.

"I guess you're going back to your world then," Tara said, standing up straight and throwing her arms around me. "I hope for the best, Kane. Be a savior to the worlds. Do everything the monster down there is not capable of." She kissed my cheek, sending a warm pulse into my soul.

I nodded, returning the hug. I released her as Disney held a hand out before him. A portal of light appeared in between me and him. I was about to step through when I heard a yell of frustration. The evil version of me shot straight out of the water and rose above the bridge, soon darting towards me and the portal. So I rushed into the light. In a flash of light I had vanished from that world. I couldn't see anything.

When my vision returned, I was being embraced by Domino. _My_ Domino. He was almost at the point of sobbing into my shoulder. I smiled and said, "Domino, I'm alright."

"I told you he'd come back," said the voice of Rika, who sat on the steps of the Mysterious Tower with a grin on her face. "That kid, he's a fighter, I'll give him that. He gets himself outta trouble." I smiled wider at Rika's compliment. "So tell us, Kane, where in the worlds did you go?"

Domino finally released me. Asher stood next to me and put a hand on my shoulder as he grinned at me. Disney stood at the edge of the courtyard looking up at the stars with his hands folded behind his back. I explained to them everything that happened. They all listened intently on everything I had to say, fascinated about the possibilities of more than a thousand versions of each and every world out there. When I finished I took out the scroll from my pocket and unrolled it, staring at the scripture that was on the page.

**_Disney Report, IV_**

**_Each world out there developed hearts of their own. They were like living, breathing creatures which need a heart to survive. Their hearts were known as "Keyholes". The dark denizens found their way out of the Realm of Darkness, as my brother had called it. They attacked the many worlds out there. They tried to sink each world into the depths of darkness. Instead of worrying, my brother was fascinated. He loved how the dark denizens, which we dubbed the "Heartless", acted on instinct. The Heartless came after our world again. Our lonely Kingdom was attacked._**

**_It took all of the power I could muster, but I created a seal on our world. A seal that would keep any and all beings from entering our sacred place. But if a problem were to ever arise in which we would need to unlock the door, I created the necessary locks. The Crystal Keyholes, which I had Destati place in secret locations within each and every world. _**

**_Seven of these Keyholes, when united, could unlock the door to our world. But it could do much more. Those Keyholes would be the keys to unlock great power, or great destruction. It all depends on who uses them. I have to make sure none of the Crystal Keyholes never make it into the hands of someone foul._**

Disney had stood by me as I read it aloud. He took the scroll, rolled it up, and placed it in his pocket. Out of thin air in front of me appeared the glowing form of the crystalized Keyhole, which Disney soon took into his hands. The crystal vanished into light.

Disney cleared his throat and said, "We have now recovered five of the Crystal Keyholes and four of the reports I have written. We are getting ever closer to unlocking the door to my world."

There was one person I had forgotten was even there. Her feet crunched against the grassy ground as she approached me. Domino and Disney backed away from me. The mysterious girl's eye was glowing. She wrapped her fingers around a loose thread in the black mask she had around her head. And she unraveled them. As she removed the bandages white mist seemed to escape from underneath, almost like dust, as if she had never taken this off in a long time.

The black bandages fell to the ground. I caught my first glimpse at a woman that looked very much like a younger version of my mother. Silver hair cascaded down her shoulders, a few bangs hanging in the middle of her forehead. Her other eye was finally revealed. It wasn't golden. It was a light gray. Her pupil stayed focused in one area. She was blind in that eye. She smiled at me. I couldn't help but to smile back.

"I would say it's been a while since we saw each other, but you never even knew of my existence," she said in a soft voice. "Mother thought it would be better that way. I'm Samuel's younger sister. And your twin. My name—" She held a hand over her heart as she gazed into my eyes. "—is Kaylee."

**.**

**How'd you like this new chapter? SORRRRRY it's been SOOOOOO LOOOOOONNNNGGGG! Next chapter should be out soon though…I hope. I keep saying that and it never happens but this time I'll try to speed things up. See ya next time!**


	24. Power of the Mystic

**Kingdom Hearts belongs to me, though that should be obvious…okay maybe there's no point in saying that anymore, haha. Looks like another chapter's out only a few days after the previous one. And a lot shorter. I wouldn't really call this filler, but I didn't want to put this bit in with the plot of the next world. I hope you enjoy it, even though it is shorter. **

**.**

**Power of the Mystic**

"Why didn't I know about you?" was the first thing I asked my twin, Kaylee. All of us—me, Domino, Rika, Asher, Disney, and Kaylee—had gone back inside of the Mysterious Tower's top room. Kaylee looked so much like my mother. Her silver hair was like a waterfall cascading over her shoulders, much like my mother's. Domino, Rika, and Asher stayed towards the back of the room to give me and my sister some space while Disney stood behind his desk staring out the window.

"As much as I wanted to tell you, I couldn't," Kaylee replied softly, staring into my eyes with her one golden eye. "I will explain everything. Surely you must know that you and I are not ordinary individuals. We possess magic, yet we do not own Keyblades."

"Like Merlin, right?" I asked. "We're like wizards, aren't we? He can possess magic."

"He is a wizard, yes," Kaylee replied. "We are not. We are from a most ancient bloodline. We are Mystics. Our bloodline originated from the very first Mystic, Sirus. He possessed great strength. He was the first magic-wielder. He was a god among men. Like any normal man, he fell in love. He and his lover had several children. Those children had children, and so on. The family tree became so expansive that not every member of the bloodline possessed the power of the Mystic. We are the two remaining members of the Mystic bloodline. As far as we know."

"A Mystic," Domino repeated from where he was standing in the corner of the room. "My dad told me about the Mystics before we came to Utopia. He said they were just myth. I guess what my father said was truth after all. But why did you not meet with Kane sooner? Why follow us around like this?"

"Our mother was afraid," Kaylee continued. "Enix Square found out about our mother's link to the Mystic bloodline. So he did some research. He found that a Mystic could be at its full potential if it wielded a Keyblade as well. Not a single Mystic down the family tree has ever wielded a Keyblade before…except for Sirus."

"But…Keyblades were invented a little over three years ago," I said, confused. "How is that even possible then?"

"The man-made Keys of today were forged three years ago," Kaylee said. "But the blade Sirus wielded was the inspiration for all Keyblades created by Enix. After Enix found out that his wife and twin-children were a part of the bloodline of the Mystic, he began to work on the Keyblades, creating them from the image of the one Sirus wielded. Not only to develop weapons for man to use, but to give the blades to his children…to make us super powerful. More so than what we really are. Mother read that the Mystics are stronger _together_, and that twins are the most powerful. She hid me away from you. Enix thought that I was kidnapped. This didn't stop his production of the Keyblades, though."

"So wait…" I said. All of this was too much information to handle. "So…the Keyblades were based off of this one that this Sirus used. He wanted the two of us to wield a blade of our own…does that mean Samuel was not a Mystic?"

"Samuel had more characteristics from Enix than our mother," Kaylee answered simply. "Long after I was away, Enix had finished production of the Keyblades, three years ago. He gave his first creation to one of his friends. He was going to transfer another Keyblade to you, Kane, being his only Mystic child left. You see, mother refused to own one, I was hidden in another world, and Samuel wasn't even a Mystic. He thought it was easy to give you one."

I held a hand in front of my face, trying to mentally conjure a Keyblade. It failed, of course. I then told her, "But I obviously don't have one now."

"He was all set to give you your Keyblade," Kaylee continued with her story. "But people showed up. To kill him. To destroy his work. I believe they were henchman of Ibiki Kamikaze. One of the leaders of the group showed up on his doorstep…I think his name was Pierce or something. He almost killed Enix. Enix hid from Pierce long enough to find you a hiding spot…and erased your memories with the power of his Keyblade. You had forgotten who your father even was. Enix then fled Utopia, finding a world to settle down in. To hide."

"So that's how I forgot…" I muttered. Enix had hid me, protected me from the Keyblade Hunters… and erased my memories so I would forget who he was. It was sad and depressing to think about. "And what happened to Samuel and Mom?"

"You may not have known this, but Samuel adopted a Key of his own and went out to look for Enix," Kaylee replied. "Mom tagged along after casting a spell on you to protect you from harm. And then she left with Samuel. Along the way Samuel died. Mom found where she had hidden me when I was a baby. I was being taken care of by Merlin. He had taught me how to use my magical abilities since I could walk." Whoa. I did not see that coming. "She told me to protect you… that our paths were destined to cross in the future. And then she left…and died sometime later. The protective spell around you wasn't an actual spell…it was me, destined to watch over you."

"I've almost died a few times…in Utopia…" I told her. "You didn't protect me then."

"I did not have to," Kaylee told me. "Domino was there. I knew he would protect you." Domino smiled at that. "Like he did in the battle with Elijah Brunner, the teacher at your school. I was there, watching."

"And then…" I tried to put together the pieces of this whole story, trying to find out what part she was leaving out. "And then, after Samuel and Mom left, Ibiki found me and put me into his Home. I made a family there."

"Yes," Kaylee nodded, putting her soft hands on my shoulders. "I apologize if I had to over-explain anything. I have waited years to tell you…pretty much everything that I did today."

I nodded in response. Kaylee filled the gaps in my memory. Half of my life was a complete mystery until now. Now I know why Enix, Samuel, and my mother had left our lives forever. I would call Enix my father, but saying it out loud didn't feel quite right. I felt a tightening in the pit of my stomach. Enix was viewed as a great man by many. But with recent revelations, I couldn't be too sure. Enix created the Keyblades out of some selfish reason. He wanted to create weapons…something to make his two children strong. What would have my life been like if I _did_ own a Keyblade of my own?

"Are you two done chatting it up?" Rika asked, approaching my twin and I with a smug smile. She held a hand out for Kaylee to shake. "The name's—"

"Rika Khiohé," Kaylee said with a smile, giggling. Rika pouted like a child and crossed her arms in anger. "I watch over Kane. That is my duty. So of course I know you." She looked over to the other two towards the back of the room. "Phoenix Asher, and last but not least, Domino Starr. I'm Kaylee Carter. It's nice to finally meet all of Kane's closest friends."

"The pleasure's all mine, my dear," Asher said in a polite voice, quickly rushing to Kaylee and taking her hand in his. "If I must say, you are looking fine this evening."

"Is it evening?" Kaylee asked with a chuckle. "It looks like night outside."

Asher looked rather embarrassed as he said, "Well, I guess it may be night…"

"Quit trying to flatter her," Domino interjected, approaching us and grabbing Asher by the back of his collar, yanking him backwards and away from Kaylee. He took her hand and shook it formally. "Unless you haven't noticed, I'm Kane's best friend. We've known each other since…well, since before we actually met each other." I knew what he meant. We had known each other since before we met three years ago. The memories were just long gone.

"You're Diantha's twin, right?" Kaylee asked, making Domino snap to attention. He quickly nodded. "In my travels I've met Diantha. Nice girl, she is. I've met the rest of her family too. Over in Sanctuary. That's where I've been staying for the past three years."

"With my family?" Domino asked. "That's…nice, I guess. Merlin taught you all that need you needed to know?"

"My training alongside him ended a few days before the creation of the Keyblade," Kaylee answered. "I left Daybreak Town and found Sanctuary. Every day I would go to Utopia to watch over you, as I promised, Kane."

"Wait," I said, something sticking out in my mind. "I've…seen you in the Olympus Coliseum. There, you said you made the promise to our dad…that was before I knew he was Enix. Why did you lie?"

"I was protecting you from the truth," Kaylee quickly said. "Any more questions?"

"What happened to your eye?" Asher suddenly asked.

Kaylee stayed quiet. I mentally thought, _Asher, you idiot_. "Asher, you idiot!" Domino shouted out. Of course he did. You don't just ask people about their conditions like that. Some people just don't like explaining things like that. What happened to her right eye could be scarring for her. Kaylee's silence told me she didn't want to talk about it. I did not expect her to smile.

"When I was old enough to understand most things," Kaylee started, "I asked Merlin why I could not see out of this eye." She waved a hand over her right eye for emphasis. "He told me there was a training incident when I had learned my first spell. It blinded me here. I cannot even remember seeing out of this eye. But it's okay. You get used to something like this, and there's no problem. It'd be even weirder to _have_ vision in both eyes, you know?"

Asher caught Domino's stare from before and quickly said, "Uh, Kaylee, I'm—"

"Don't be sorry, Phoenix," Kaylee said with a smile, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Or should I call you Phoe-Phoe?"

Asher quickly jumped back in surprise. "Where'd you hear that!?"

"I've also seen Lucina in my travels," Kaylee said with a smile. "She's told me a lot about you. Including all of her favorite pet nicknames for you. She really likes you, doesn't she?"

"She's like a sister to me," Asher replied. "I helped her get over the loss of her boyfriend. My brother, Raven." He quickly shook his head and said loudly, "Are we just gonna stand around talking about irrelevant stuff, or are we gonna go and find the next crystal Keyhole?"

Disney finally spoke up after his long silence. "There's no need to rush. Kaylee has only just arrived. Tomorrow she will take you to the next world I have found for you guys. Until then, relax. You will need all of the rest you can get."

Suddenly Kaylee darted her eyes to the window. It was very slight, but I noticed it. I could tell that Domino noticed it as well. An instant later Kaylee took off out the door. I didn't have time to think. Without a word, I was running after her. We ran down the long spiral staircase, going downward through the expanse of colors that seemed to go on infinitely. We had gotten to the very bottom floor, and she threw herself through the door. I quickly followed.

Outside of the doorway I saw two people shrouded in dark cloaks, hoods shielding their faces in darkness. It had been so long, and I've seen this outfit only once, but I was certain. The book I had received in Daybreak Town had an illustration of someone identical to me facing off against a man in a black coat. These were the same coats. But these were two people. _Two _coats. And neither one was Domino.

They both had their backs to us, as if they were just about to exit this world. The one on the right continued looking towards the edge of the world. I thought I could see him shaking, either with fear or with anger. The one on the left turned around to face us. "Well, wouldja look at that," he said in a somewhat familiar voice. "Didn't think you'd be coming out here any time soon." I was about to ask who he was and why he was here, but he a raised a hand for me to shush. "We're not here to cause trouble. We were only here to check on Domino."

"Who are you?" Kaylee asked.

"I should ask you the same thing," the man said with a chuckle. "I've got it from here, man." The man to the right, who still had his back turned to us, nodded and vanished within darkness. "Now let's skip the introductions. You know who I am. You tried to drown me."

"Dante Netherwood," I deduced. I _knew_ I could recognize his voice. "Drop the façade and drop your hood." Dante complied and lowered his hood, showing his face now. He looked the same as when I last saw of him in the Olympus Coliseum. "Why the change of clothes? Why are you wearing that? Where did it come from?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Dante snapped. "Allow me to ask one, please. Who's the girl?"

"I'm his sister," Kaylee answered. "You and your buddy that were just here emanate a strong darkness. I'm surprised you came here knowing somebody could undoubtedly sniff you out like this."

"I was hoping it would be Domino," Dante answered, looking passed us and towards the tower.

"Hello, Dante," came Domino's voice. I looked back and in the doorway was Domino. I wonder how long he had been standing there. "Any word on the whereabouts of Sanctuary?"

"You're looking for Sanctuary," Kaylee muttered. "I could have told you where it was."

"Jazz and the rest of her followers have made it there safely," Dante replied. "It was a hell of a lot trouble finding the damn place, though. That's what I came here to tell you. When you're done with whatever the hell it is that you're doing, come by Sanctuary. Then we can talk goals. Until then, I have somewhere to be, someone to see."

"Who?" Domino and I asked at the same time.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Dante said, laughing as he vanished into darkness.

Almost as soon as he vanished, three Shadows rose up from the ground where he stood moments before. "What the!?" I yelled out. "Did Dante _make_ those appear?"

"It wasn't Dante," Domino said, refusing to believe one of his friends had conjured up Heartless to take care of us.

One of the Shadows jumped at me. I grabbed it by its neck as it was in midair, and it exploded from an electrical charge I sent flowing through its body. The other Shadows instantly sunk into the ground and vanished. Apparently they didn't want to deal with joining their friend in death. "That was weird," I said quietly.

"Maybe they know just how strong you are, Kane," Kaylee said with a smirk. "The Power of the Mystic flows through your veins. You are very powerful. Maybe one day you'll even be as good as me."

I laughed at that. She seemed all serious before but she was acting just like a sibling would. I countered with, "Maybe I'm already as good as you!"

"Oh really?" she said with a smirk. "Can you do this?" She swiped her hand through the air, and only feet away a tornado of air rose from the ground and into the air.

"No," I said, studying the swirling vortex growing larger and expanding towards the sky. "But I can…do _this_!" I used a Blizzard spell. Cool ice escaped my fingertips and entered the tornado, suddenly freezing it silent. Kaylee just laughed and pointed her palms towards the frozen twister, and it immediately melted, the water shooting towards me and dousing me in cool water. "Wow!" I shouted out, suddenly shaking from the cold water that was once frozen. One quick Aero spell dried me off.

"I have to admit, that was one strong Blizzard spell," Kaylee remarked.

"Blizzara," Domino corrected.

"Really, you're learning second-level spells already?" Kaylee asked with a smile. I could tell my twin sister was proud of me. Without saying another word, she embraced me in a hug. "Now I feel kinda stupid, listening to Mom, not meeting up with you until now." She wiped away a tear and said, "Now I know I made the right choice. I hope you're not too mad at me."

"Why would I be mad?" I asked her. "You've protected me. I'm grateful."

"Happy to hear you say that," Kaylee said, hugging me another time. When she released me, she said, "Oh, and I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I know which world Disney's taking you to. It's this beautiful, tropical world surrounded by a magnificent ocean that goes on forever. The skies are always bright blue in the day, and illuminated with stars in the night. Not a cloud in sight. Maybe we can all look for the crystal Keyhole there, while still, you know, relaxing. Having fun. You never have enough of that, do you?"

"Nope," Domino answered. "Every time we try to relax, well…someone almost drowned, an entire ship got sunk, some guy became some sort of monster…we never do catch a break."

"But I am looking forward to this new world," I told Kaylee, and she smiled.

"Good!" Kaylee's smile brightened up my spirits for sure, I had almost completely forgot about that other guy that was with Dante. Why were they wearing hooded cloaks like that to begin with? I quickly forgot about that when Kaylee brought us inside, went to another world just for some fried chicken, and then came back with it so we could all eat before the big day Kaylee had planned for tomorrow.

Did I mention I love fried chicken?

**…**

**(Anytime in the story that you see three dots like this, it means it will be told in Third-Person Perspective)**

A man in a dark hooded cloak stood on the shore of a beach in some far-off world with only one word in his mind. _Revenge_. He crossed his arms and looked out onto the big blue sea. Dante had commanded him not to lash out when he saw Kane and Domino earlier. It took all of this man's being not to. He was shaking with anger. He got angry a lot. He couldn't help it. He couldn't follow Dante's orders any more. He had no choice but to confront them. He knew they were coming to this world. He would get his revenge on _him_.

**…**

**Did you like this chapter? Again, sorry it's shorter but it was meant to be only a tad filler because the next chapter should be longer. Also, occasionally from now on there will be third-person segments detailing what's going on out of Kane's point of view. Hopefully it won't disrupt the flow of the story. See ya in the next one!**


	25. My Friends are my Power

**And here's another chapter, released not long after the previous one! Well, I'm glad. Now, if you were wondering where the next world would be after I told you I would not be doing Neverland any time soon, and if you couldn't tell by the hints I left in the last chapter about what world will be the next…well, read on and find out! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**.**

**My Friends are my Power**

It was the next day. Kaylee had woken up bright and early—which you really couldn't tell in a world like this—and forced all of us to get out of bed. I had forgotten to mention that beds would appear in this room whenever the time would come that we needed sleep. Then they'd vanish as soon as we stepped out of bed. Man, I loved Disney's magic. I yawned, about to ask Kaylee why she had woken us up.

Kaylee spun around in the center of the room, showing off her new attire. She said she had just gone to Daybreak Town and raided the shops for another outfit while we were asleep. I was kinda glad that she had ditched her business suit-type dress for something a normal girl would wear. She wore a plain white sleeveless shirt that had a floral pattern along the bottom edge of it. She wore blue jeans that went just below her knees. She slipped into her pink and white flip-flops that showed off her pink toenails. She put a headband on her head that pushed her hair back so no bangs fell in her face or over her shoulders.

"Now this is more my style," Kaylee said with a smile, twirling one more time before coming to a halt face-to-face with Domino. "Look at your hair!" She rushed to Disney's desk and picked up her hairbrush, which she used to forcefully brush Domino's long purple hair. Domino may have yelped out a few times. I never realized how knotty his hair gets after he wakes up. "There, I think you look perfect."

"You sure act different when you're not all dressed in whatever you wore before," Domino remarked. "In fact, you remind me of someone we know." He darted his eyes to me. I knew he meant Tara. He was right. She did seem as excitable as Tara…you know, when she's not all serious and stuff.

"Walt, I'm going to take them to the next world now," Kaylee said to the man who sat at his desk, his arms crossed and his face looking as if he were deep in thought. She held a hand out and a portal of white appeared in the very center of the room. Then her eyes darted around the room and she said, "Where are Rika and Phoenix?"

As if on cue the door to the room opened up and Rika and Asher walked through. Rika and Asher were wearing outfits similar to Kaylee's, except that Rika's jeans were higher than her knees, and Asher was wearing a tropical looking button-up shirt that was unbuttoned all the way along with gray silky looking shorts that looked like a bathing suit. They both wore flip flops.

"You think you're the only one who can dress for this world?" Rika asked rudely. "Think again."

"Rika made me tag along with her," Asher said, looking at us with a smile. "She said something about not wanting to go alone—" Rika jammed her elbow into Asher's belly, causing him to double over in pain. "Okay, okay, I get it, secrets are meant to be kept secret."

I looked from my clothes to Domino's. I guess our Utopian outfits were good enough for this world. It didn't matter if I got my shorts and underwear wet because I could use Aero too dry myself off. I looked to Kaylee and said, "So are we going to go, or…?"

"Yes," Kaylee replied, waved to us, and stepped into the light. Domino didn't waste any time in grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me into the portal with him. I could hear Asher and Rika running behind us. We were surrounded by light. Before the light could vanish, I heard the sounds of birds chirping; the sounds of waves lapping against the shore; the sound of peace. "Here we are." The light around us vanished, and we could now get a good look at the world around us. "Destiny Islands."

"Whoa," was the only world that could escape my lips. The sky was a bright blue. Not a single cloud was in the sky. The bright sun, rather than looking harsh and hot, looked inviting and warm. The air was humid, but every now and again I could feel a cool breeze sweep through my hair. The air smelled like the fresh smell of the sea. We stood on the edge of a shore. We stood on white sand. Crystal-clear water lapped against the shoreline, going passed out feet and then back into the sea. It reminded me of the shore of the Lake of Destiny, except that shore was covered in grass.

"Holy crap," Asher said, taking a look around the place by spinning around.

I looked around as well. Trees rose up further along the beach, some sort of star-shaped fruit hanging down from them and looking delicious. The entire place looked beautiful, but there seemed to be no signs of life besides the birds flying above us and whatever sea life lies below the surface of the water.

"Holy crap," Asher repeated, his smile growing larger by the second. "This is the place!" He stopped admiring his surroundings for a second and repeated less enthusiastically, "This is the place."

"What place?" Domino asked, kicking his bare foot through the ocean and sending sparkling water into the air.

"After I found out that Raven was missing…after I found Ibiki and he became my master…this was the first world I went to outside of my homeworld," Asher answered, looking down at the sand. "Lucina must have hitched a ride with me because next thing I knew after I arrived, she was by my side demanding answers. If she would have never followed me through that portal, she wouldn't have been roped into all of this. It's my fault for trying to find Raven. She probably hates me."

"Don't say that," Kaylee snapped. "Phoenix, that girl would never blame you. You were unaware she was following you. And just think—if she would have never followed you, she may have never seen you again after you left your world."

"You're right," Asher replied, looking up towards the sky now. He was smiling again. I thought I saw a trace of a tear in his eye.

"I have a surprise for you…Phoe-Phoe," Kaylee said with a smile.

As she said that a white portal appeared directly behind Asher. Without turning around, Asher immediately gasped in surprise. "No way," he said without looking back. The portal vanished. Standing there, dressed in nearly the same outfit as Kaylee, was Lucina.

"Yes way," she said with a smile. Asher smiled widely and whipped around to see his closest friend. Asher ran up to Lucina as she jumped into the air, and he caught her in a powerful embrace. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, twirled her around in the air a bit, and then lowered her to her feet. "Did you miss me?"

"I wasn't away from you _that _long," Asher replied.

"Did you miss me!?" she asked more insistently.

Asher nodded and kissed her forehead again. He then ran to Kaylee and hugged her, taking her by surprise. "Thank you so much," Asher said, tearing up a little. He quickly wiped his eyes. "But, uh, why did you get her to come here?"

"If we're going to relax, we might as well hang around those closest to us, right?" Kaylee asked with a smile. A sudden calm wind caused her hair to flutter in the breeze. I took a good look at her…she was the spitting image of my mother in her youth.

"So, how long do we have to relax before finding that Keyhole?" Asher asked. Kaylee gave him a look that said, "Pshhh, what Keyhole?"

Asher's face lit up as he took off his shirt and flip flops and splashed into the ocean water. Lucina removed her clothing and showed off her red two-piece swimming suit. She followed her best friend into the water. They looked like two little kids going into the big-kid pool for the first time. I chuckled at the sight.

"I'm going to go take a look around," Kaylee said to Domino and I. "I want to find the location of the crystal Keyhole so you guys don't have to." And with that she walked away. Man, Kaylee was an amazing person. Without a world Rika took off in a random direction. I decided not to ask her where she was going.

"Well, isn't this amazing," Domino said, looking to the sky above. "Last night I checked one of the calendars Disney provided…this day is the anniversary of the day we met. Three days after the Keyblades were created. We've been knowing each other for four years now." I didn't know what to say. But that brought up a question. So that meant three days ago was the fourth anniversary of the days the Keys were invented? "Well, if you don't count how we technically met before I came to Utopia."

"I remember that day well," I replied. "You were so shy. You wouldn't talk to any of the other kids. Yet for some reason you came up to me and started up a conversation. You asked me if I believed in other worlds. I wasn't too optimistic about the idea of other worlds…" I then started to laugh. "And I remember shutting you down so quickly, making you feel bad that you even asked me. I thought you were crazy."

"Then a few days later Mr. Elijah Brunner became our teacher and his first lesson was on the newly created Keyblade and the topic of other worlds," Domino said with a smile. "After that day you thought that I can see the future, because it almost seemed like I predicted that lesson. Man…we became the best of friends."

As we continued reminiscing of the old times years ago when we met, I began thinking back to that time clearly…it was almost as if _Sight_ was making these thoughts so real that they seemed like reality at the time. The thoughts projected in my head showed a certain situation in which Domino and I's friendship became even greater.

_It was about a month and a half after I was put into the Kamikaze Home and had met Domino. We were the best of friends (and he actually had kind of short hair). His parents, Marian and Demetrius, invited me over for dinner and I would sleep there every single weekend. I tried to ask Ibiki to allow him to come over, but he never let. One day when I slept at Domino's, we had the television on the Utopian News Network. They were doing a story on some vigilante running the streets of Utopia._

_The anchorwoman said, "Last night was the fourth time in the past month that one of Utopia's notorious criminals was found unconscious in a random location. Slashes were found in his clothing and skin just like all the others. He was beaten unconscious with some kind of weapon. We have yet to find out who this vigilante is, but stay tuned for more on—" Before the lady could say more, Domino switched off the television. _

_"__Domino, it was getting interesting!" I protested._

_"__News isn't supposed to be interesting," Domino replied back, and I pouted. Domino just laughed whenever I pouted. He pinched my cheek and said, "This cute little pout doesn't work on me, kid."_

_I slapped his hand away, angry._

_The next day we had school. Sirens were heard all around the school yard during a particularly scorching recess period. Some criminal must have been on the run. In just the past two months alone the crime rate had grown eighty percent above normal. I tried to look for Domino to ask him what was going on. I couldn't find him._

_In fact, the rest of the day I went about my business without Domino. He never showed up for any of our classes. Finally during the last class of the day he walked into the room looking almost out of breath. I chose not to question him; he didn't seem to be in a talking mood. _

_A whole week went by and Domino seemed to vanish into thin air every single day. Then came the weekend. I went to sleep at Domino's place. Domino's parents made sure to order the fried chicken. That particular day Domino had allowed me to sleep in his bed and he slept on the floor. He seemed to be comfortable. Then I woke up in the middle of the night. It was a little past midnight. Domino was no longer in the room. I looked in the bathroom, the living room, and even his parents' room, and he was nowhere in sight. I tiptoed down the hall and exited the doorway out of Domino's house. It was raining. I was instantly soaked._

_And there he was. Running from some alley behind the Kamikaze Home was Domino, soaked from head to toe. He immediately stopped and locked eyes with me when he saw I was standing outside his house. He nervously scratched the back of his head. "What's up?" Seriously. That's what he said._

_"__Where did you go?" I asked him urgently, running up to him, my bare feet splashing against the puddles of rain. "I got worried."_

_"__I'm glad you care," Domino said, sidestepping the question of where he went. "Let's get inside before you get sick."_

_"__Where did you go?" I asked him again, more insistently, grabbing onto his shirt and looking straight into his eyes. _

_"__I can't tell you," he replied. He looked sad. It looked like he really wanted to tell me, but decided against it. "I'm sorry, I wish I could."_

_I don't know why I asked this, but I did. "Does it have anything to do with that vigilante running around?" Domino seemed to jump when I mentioned it. "I'm right, aren't I? Are you sneaking away to try and find him? Are you really that desperate to meet a superhero?"_

_"__No," Domino said, looking up and into my eyes. "I wasn't trying to find the vigilante…" He seemed to choke on his own words when he said that. I had to know the answer. I wasn't prepared for it. "I _am_the vigilante."_

_"__No you're not," I instantly said. "You aren't strong enough to hurt all those bad guys."_

_"__But I am—" Domino tried to reason with me._

_"__Let's go inside," I snapped back at him. "We'll get sick." As soon as I said that, a police car roared through the street in between the Kamikaze Home and Domino's house, the siren blaring loudly. The vehicle disappeared behind a tall building. "What the—?"_

_"__I am the vigilante," Domino repeated. Appearing in a flash of light was the Keyblade I would soon learn about, Starlight. As he said that and his mighty weapon appeared, all time seemed to stand still. For a moment I could almost swear the raindrops froze in midair, and everything around us seemed silent. And just like that, the world came crashing down around me._

_"__You're what!?" I yelled at him, the thunder and rain getting louder by the second. "What the heck is that?" I pointed to his weapon._

_"__A Keyblade," Domino replied. "I'm one of the Keybearers."_

_"__I thought it was all fake," I said, almost at a loss for words. "You can wield…a Keyblade!?"_

Sure I was mad at him after that day, but I eventually warmed up to the idea of him potentially becoming my own personal superhero. That one secret he shared with me is what caused us to stay even closer than we already were. Domino laughed at the memory and said, "Man, that day I was so scared you'd run for the hills. But it brought us closer." Without warning Domino hugged me. He kissed my forehead and then whispered into my ear, "Thanks for not running for the hills, Kane."

I pushed Domino away and started laughing. I didn't know what I would do without this guy.

**…**

The mysterious figure in the black hooded coat watched the group from a distance. He wanted to yell out in anger and attack, but quickly decided against it. But he had to find some way to scare them. To let them know that they weren't safe. The figure chuckled to himself. Ever since the last time he saw them months ago, he experienced a mental breakdown. Nothing mattered to him more than getting his revenge. He raised a hand into the air and a Shadow Heartless rose from the ground, it's neck twisting in multiple different directions as if waiting for orders.

The man swiped a hand through the air and the Shadow sunk into the ground, moving along the shadows of trees and headed towards the group. The mysterious figure clutched a fist, watching and waiting for the group to realize that even on a world of light like this, they weren't safe.

**…**

Domino and I spent a few minutes talking about the old times. Man, I sure missed them. The days were so simple back then. But at least I was still with Domino…even if we were somehow destined to fight one another in the future. I was not looking forward to that. I was going to say something more but Domino put a hand in the air as if to shush me. But I saw it before he did. A Shadow rose from the ground and leapt at Domino from behind.

I raised a hand to conjure a Thunder spell to finish the Heartless off, and lightning shot from the sky and slammed into the Heartless. The creature dissipated into darkness. It was then that I realized something. It wasn't me who conjured that spell. I hadn't even felt the rush of electrical energy. That's because the person behind Domino beat me to it. Domino quickly whipped around to be face-to-face with the person who had defeated that Heartless. It was Robin Cale; Six.

He wore a smile on confidence on his face as he said, "Did you miss me?" He walked past Domino and held a hand out for me to shake, and I gladly took it. "Good to see you again."

"Same here," I replied.

"Can we focus on something else?" Domino interrupted our reunion. "Why was there a Heartless here? And a single Heartless, in fact. Actually, why are there _ever_ Heartless following us around? I'm sick of this. One of these days one of us will get hurt."

"I found something!" came Kaylee's excited voice as she dashed from up ahead to the three of us. She looked at Six and nodded at him as if silently saying hello, but quickly looked to Domino and I and said, "Come and follow me." She dashed back to where she was before.

Domino and I shrugged, following Kaylee. Six tagged along, and not long after Asher, Lucina, and Rika were behind us. The seven of us followed her past a couple of trees to a small waterfall that fell down from the cliff of the rock wall in front of us. The waterfall fell into a small pond that for some reason didn't overflow. Kaylee walked to the left of the pond and put her hand on another rock wall. She knocked on it a few times and said, "Unlike the rest of the wall, this spot is hollow. There's something secret inside this place."

She held her palm against the surface of the rock and just like that, the rock vanished. Into thin air. I wasn't sure how she did that, but I wasn't about to ask. What we were looking at wasn't a rock wall at all. It was a giant hole at the base of a large tree. Looking into it all I saw was inky blackness. I wasn't sure on how far you would be able to go in there.

"What are we waiting for?" Rika asked. "That crystal Keyhole isn't going to find itself." She walked confidentially into the dark opening.

"Looks like we're getting another one of those crystal Keyholes together, huh?" Six asked as he looked at me. He winked and followed Rika into the darkness. The rest of us followed his lead.

Kaylee raised a hand into the air and a bright light shone from her palm like a flashlight. I would have admired it and asked her how she could do that, but we were on a mission. The time for questions would be later.

Roots sprouted out from the ground along each wall and disappeared into the ceiling above our heads. I admired the walls of this cavern. I saw drawings all along the walls, drawn in white. I saw pictures of worlds I've already been to and completely unknown worlds. I saw illustrations of things that didn't make any sense to me such as seven women all standing around in a circle with a heart in the center of them. I saw hordes of Heartless ravaging worlds. I saw other creatures, too.

The hallway we walked down opened up into a larger circular room. Drawings covered the walls even more so than in the hallway we had just came from. Our eyes then fell upon one picture on the wall—a Keyhole. Kaylee pressed her hand against the picture and said, "Looks like the Society of the Keyhole sealed this place off years ago. This is their insignia. They must've closed this place off to hide the crystal Keyhole better than all the rest."

"What's that?" Asher asked, pointing to a large door on the far wall in front of us. That's right. A door.

Domino ran to the door and tried to push and pull it open. It wouldn't budge. "Why is there a door in here? Where could this lead?" Domino walked back to the group.

Suddenly we were surrounded by a ring of Shadows and Neoshadows. Everyone instantly went on alert. Domino, Rika, Asher, and Six drew their Keyblades. Kaylee and I got prepared to cast our magic. Lucina drew a sword. I looked to the ceiling and nearly screamed. Covering the ceiling like a bunch of balloons in the air were Darkballs, covering every inch of the rocky ceiling. In front of the door ahead of us appeared a Darkside's head, rising from the shadows on the ground.

Kaylee used one huge blast of Thundaga, and every Shadow and Neoshadow vanished into darkness. The Keyblade wielders threw their Keys into the air, slicing through the Darkballs effortlessly and causing them to disappear as well. Darkness spawned from the Darkside that was just growing in size by the second. Soon its head reached the ceiling, only its legs still in the floor. I then noticed something peculiar. Within the heart-shaped hole in its chest was a floating sheet of paper. The fifth Disney Report! That creature must have taken it from this world.

Before I had time to think, the Darkside's fist crashed down right in front of me, sending a shockwave through the ground that caused me to fall onto my butt. I was about to use magic to take down this Darkside…but then my head his the ground. I looked up lazily to see a Shadow standing on my chest, slashing its claws at my face. Its sharp, shadowy class rug into my cheeks and drew blood.

Domino kicked the Shadow off of me and helped me to my feet, quickly healing me. "Uh oh…" he said, looking towards the ceiling. I looked up as well. Two gigantic hands most likely belonging to a Darkside were coming out of the darkness on the ceiling. A quick double-Thunder spell, curtesy of my twin and I, destroyed the beast trying to enter the cave through the ceiling.

"No!" yelled out Lucina. A Neoshadow had swiped its claws and smacked the sword from her hand. When she went to run for it, two more Neoshadows rose from the ground and latched onto her legs, their claws sinking into her skin. "Ow!"

"Lucina!" Asher yelled out, firing bullets of lights at all three Neoshadows, causing them to disappear. Six kneeled down to Lucina and healed her. Before Asher could go and check to see if she was alright, a Darkball appeared behind him and bit into his neck. "Gah!" Blood streamed to the ground, staining his clothes.

Rika sent a wave of darkness after the Darkball, absorbing the monster and relieving Asher. She cast a darker version of Cure on him, closing his wounds he had on his neck.

Kaylee leapt for the Darkside in front of the huge door and snatched the floating Disney Report in the center of its heart-shaped hole. As soon as she fell back to the ground the Darkside slammed its hand into my twin, sending her flying into the right wall. I quickly ran to her, healed her, and helped her up, taking the Report and stuffing it into my pocket.

Domino, Rika, Asher, Lucina, Six, Kaylee, and I had been fighting off the Heartless for quite a while. Finally the only Heartless left was the Darkside in front of the door. I blinked. It was a quick blink, but something had happened during the time my eyes were closed. Someone appeared. Opening my eyes not even a millisecond after closing them, I saw that now standing in front of the Darkside was a person in a black hooded cloak, like the one Dante wore.

Maybe this was the person that was with Dante. "Is he the one controlling these Heartless?" I asked.

"That isn't possible," Domino said. "Didn't Disney's brother create the Heartless? Shouldn't he be the only one controlling them?"

"Is that Disney's brother?" Asher asked.

"No," Kaylee answered. "That's not even possible." She took a step forward and called out, "Who are you?"

The man snapped his fingers, and the Darkside behind him vanished into the shadows. The man began clapping, and then he leapt into the air straight for...me. Domino quickly jumped in front of me, extending his arms out and stopping the mysterious figure in his tracks. The figure shot his arms forward and wrapped his fingers around Domino's neck, prepared to strangle him. I couldn't believe this. The man got right into Domino's face and Domino gasped. Could he see the face under the hood?

"This isn't possible," Domino squealed out, still being choked. Domino kicked the man in his chest. The man jumped back and stared at all of us. Then he looked directly at me, and sent a dark fiery ball towards me. Kaylee was quick to intercept it with an orb of light. The two collided and exploded in the air.

"Who is he?" I yelled out. I _knew_ that Domino saw who it was. He was still speechless. I stared straight at the man, trying to see if I recognized his body shape. It was impossible. There's one thing I'd like to know though: why was he only aiming at me?

The man raised his hands into the air and it seemed to get chillier. Darkness swirled around the mysterious figure, emphasizing this man's strength and dark powers.

A dark wind entered the cave, whipping our hair around. And the man's hood flew off. His face was now in sight. At first I tried to remember the face, but couldn't. He looked like he hadn't shaved the stubble from his cheeks and chin in months. A mop of stringy gray hair fell from his head and to his shoulders. Bags were under his eyes as if he had never slept in months. His eyes were dull and gray. I almost didn't recognize him. When he spoke it cut through to my soul. I could remember him as soon as he said, "It has been a while."

"Mr. Brunner!?" I shouted out in disbelief. "You can't be alive!"

"Elijah, what are you doing here?' Domino asked, almost sounding not surprised. "Why are you after Kane?"

"He ruined my life," Elijah Brunner, in the flesh, muttered in a scratchy voice while pointing at me with a pink finger. "If not for that boy, I would have made it out of Utopia with the rest of the Keybearers. The two of us would rule and create our dark team together. We would be reigning over Sanctuary like kings right now."

"You're a killer," Domino replied, standing his ground.

"And you're not?" Elijah asked, keeping his arms outstretched as he let out a raspy laugh that sounded like a cough. "I heard that you killed your parents. I'm willing to bet that truthfully, you wanted to kill each of the Keybearers that lived on Utopia. I was just the first domino to fall, isn't that right?"

"You killed yourself," Domino shot back. "How did you survive?"

"My Keyblade landed inches from my heart," Elijah said. "I quickly realized this and used a portal of darkness to escape. By the time I awoke, the entire world was flooded and I was barely alive, drifting towards the bottom of the Great Lake. It took all the power I could muster, but I escaped."

"You can control these Heartless?" It was my time to ask the questions here.

"If you have a strong, firm, dark hand, the Heartless will do anything you want," Elijah cackled. "Simple minded creatures. They spawned from the darkness coming from my hatred of you." He pointed menacingly at me again. "So in reality it is all your fault."

"How can it be my fault?" I asked him in anger.

"You idiot, you really have no idea!" Elijah screamed out. "You took away _everything_, you twit! Without you the world would be a much better place! I should have killed you four years ago when you were still a weak little thing. Wait, you _are_ still a weak little thing! Nothing but a pathetic weakling!" Then he started laughing. It didn't sound like the stereotypical evil laughter either. It sounded like he had gone insane. He choked on his last laugh and scowled, "Don't look at me like that, Carter. I hate when people give me that look."

"What is _wrong_ with you?" I asked. I wasn't liking this one bit.

"He seems to have gone through some kind of mental breakdown," Kaylee said, standing to my side. "He's gone completely insane and enraged."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Elijah said with a smirk, holding a hand out. In the palm of his hand appeared…the crystal Keyhole. It vanished in the blink of an eye. "I have what you came here for. Fight me for it, Kane."

"No, I will," Domino snapped, but he was immediately flung to the wall. An incredible force stopped him from moving. He was planted on the wall, screaming to be free. "What did you do!?"

"Now the others," Elijah said, snapping his fingers. Suddenly Rika and Asher flew to Domino's side, getting stuck against the wall as well. Lucina, Six, and Kaylee flew to the opposite wall. Nobody was able to intervene and help me now. It was scary. I had never faced anything alone before. In that one moment I felt completely and utterly alone. "Fight me, Kane. I'll win. Believe it. Believe. Believe. Believe." And for some reason he kept repeating that word. He was becoming more and more insane by the second. Then he suddenly slapped himself hard across the face and yelled out, "God damn, what's my problem?" His eyes then locked on mine and his lips curled into a twisted smile. "That's right. You are."

Suddenly, in an explosion of darkness, Elijah leapt at me with his Keyblade, Skeleblade outstretched. I quickly dodged by rolling out of the way. His Keyblade became implanted in the ground where I stood seconds before. "You can't run away from the point of my blade forever!" Elijah screamed out, yanking his Key from the ground and swinging it at me, barely grazing my shirt as I backed away. "Die, bastard!" He vanished into thin air and reappeared directly behind me. He jabbed Skeleblade forward but I rolled out of the way just in time. "What's it gonna take to take your life, eh, Kane Carter!?"

I noticed something then. There was a stream of darkness attaching to the back of Elijah's head. I followed the stream to Rika's eyes. Rika was creating this stream of darkness…she had done this once before, to calm down Domino by mixing her darkness with his. Seeing this as her plan I yelled to her, "Is it working!?"

"Is what working!?" Elijah screamed in outrage, swinging his Key at me again. I jumped away from it just in time.

"No," Rika called back. "I calmed down Domino like this before. The only way I was able to do so was take one of his emotions and overpower the feeling of anger inside of him. So I took his love for you, the caring, compassionate side to him, and brought it to the surface. It caused his anger to subside. I can't do that with Elijah…I can't find a single emotion in there besides anger and rage. This is impossible." The stream of darkness vanished. "Sorry."

"Not your fault!" I yelled back to her. I looked at all six that were stuck to the wall. The only ones looking conscious were Domino and Rika. Domino had his eyes barely open as if he was on the verge of going unconscious, while Rika was completely awake and still struggling to break free. The pressure of the force sticking them to the wall was too much, but Rika wouldn't give up in trying to fight it.

I conjured a ball of fire but it was useless as it bounced off of a dark barrier around Elijah and flew back towards me. I didn't have much time to react so Rika took care of it by sending a dark beam at it from her eyes, slamming into the ball of fire and making it dissipate into thin air before it could hit me. I looked up at Rika and winked. She would have winked back but she was already passing out from the pressure of the force holding her in place.

I looked at all of my friends again. They weren't looking so good. I wanted to keep them safe. This maniac was after me and me alone. I held my hands out to either side of me and an explosion of light filled the entire cave, blinding even me. Elijah Brunner was most likely being blinded as well so I leapt from where I stood and slammed my body into the powerful man, sending both of us to the ground. When the light disappeared I found myself kneeling with one knee on his chest and one pressing against his neck.

"Don't kill me, Carter, hehe," Brunner said in a raspy voice. I could smell his foul breath from where I kneeled. I could feel the white electricity sparking around my body. Elijah Brunner was an awful person to begin with, and it didn't help that somewhere after he 'died' he lost his mind as well. In that one instant, I went against my very nature. My fingers began glowing red with heat. I wanted to kill him. That wasn't in my nature. I lowered my fingers towards his neck when he screamed, "I know who killed your mother!"

I snapped out of my wanting to kill him. What he just said may have saved his life just then. Elijah continued, "Did you think that Samuel and Rebekah were killed by the same person? I know one of the Keybearers sent to Utopia killed Samuel. I'm not sure which one. But I do know the person that killed your mother."

"Tell me," I said, my anger quickly growing. "Don't be a bad person. Tell me and I'll let you go."

"Don't be a bad person, he says," Elijah said, looking towards the rocky ceiling and slowly closing his eyes. "Too late for that, Kane Carter." As he said that the crystal Keyhole appeared floating inches above the ground right to the side of us. "I've been to a number of worlds after I left Utopia and before I came here. I hear things, see things. I know who killed Rebekah Carter. The killer told me." With one final breath he said, "I know who killed your mother." And he sunk into the ground, into a portal of darkness. I dropped to the ground as the darkness vanished. I slammed my fist into the ground.

My six friends dropped to the ground. I grabbed onto the crystal Keyhole and it vanished into light. We had our sixth crystal Keyhole and our fifth Disney Report. I smiled at the thought of getting closer to our goal, but a tear fell from my eye at the thought that I could find out who killed Mom. I looked to my friends. Domino and Rika stood up and helped Asher to his feet. Six stood up wobbly and helped Lucina up. But then there was Kaylee, still laying on the ground, face-first.

"Kaylee?" I asked. I rushed to her and gasped. Blood stained the hair on the back of her head. She was bleeding fast. She must have hit her head hard when she was thrown against the wall! "Kaylee!?" She was unresponsive. I laid her on her back—her left eye was barely open and her right was shut tight—and pressed my ear against her chest…I couldn't hear a pulse. I dug two fingers to her neck, and then her wrist and I still could not find trace of a heartbeat. "Kaylee!" I held onto her shoulders and yelled out, "Cure!" She was not healed. If you were dead, you couldn't be healed. "Cura! CURAGA!" Nothing happened. She lay lifeless on the ground.

"Kane…" Domino said from where he stood. I didn't bother looking at him for comfort.

I then felt a surge of energy into my heart. I thought I could feel my own body being healed. The air seemed eerily warm around me. I could see green light begin to glow around me. I looked at Kaylee's lifeless body and willed her to be alive. And then I screamed out, "**_CURAZA!_**" My voice echoed off of the walls. It was almost too loud.

"Kane!?" Six yelled out.

I stood up and walked backwards away from Kaylee. Flowers—roses—began sprouting from the ground around Kaylee. Her entire body seemed to glow green. I was healing her with that one spell—a fourth or fifth level spell—that my evil self had used to revive Tara after he killed her. The green light vanished. I saw Kaylee's chest begin to move up and down. I fell to my knees and almost started sobbing. I had done it.

Kaylee suddenly lifted her head off of the ground and she sat up, opening up her left eye but leaving her right eye closed. "Kane?" she asked. I tackled her in a hug, feeling the back of her head and discovering that there was no blood in sight. I looked to the wall that she was thrown against…there was so much blood stained to the wall and the floor. It was enough blood to leave her body and kill her. "What happened?" Suddenly she clutched her right eye. "What the?"

"What's the matter?" I asked her.

"I can see…light…in this eye," Kaylee muttered, still holding a hand over her right eye. "It's adjusting…do you think that when you healed me…you healed my blindness…as well?"

"I don't know, maybe," I told her. "Give it a shot and open your eye."

And Kaylee opened her eye. Her face nearly lit up when she can see out of it. She began darting her eyes everywhere, seeing everything in an entirely new light with two eyes instead of one. But there was something about her right eye that immediately freaked me out. Her right eye was silver. The same silver as Domino's.

It didn't make since. On Utopia I had met several people with gray or silver eyes, but none were _exactly_ like Domino's. I paid attention to little details like that. But Kaylee's left eye was gold…and her right eye was silver. _Domino_'s same silver eye color. "What's wrong?" she asked me.

I reached into my pocket to find Tara's old mirror, and I handed it to her. She looked into it and gasped, dropping the mirror. Domino had good enough reflexes to dash from where he stood to where Kaylee and I were, and he snatched it a second before it hit the ground and shattered. It was safe. He stuffed it into his pocket. And then he got a good look at Kaylee's eye.

"How do I have two different colored eyes?" Kaylee asked, looking from me to Domino. Domino just stared straight into that one eye. That silver eye. Domino's eye. Kaylee looked up at Domino with wide eyes. "Domino?"

**.**

**How did you like that chapter? What about the return of someone we thought was dead? Things are heating up since we now know Elijah Brunner knows who killed Kane's mom, ****_and_****Kaylee is revealed to possess one golden eye, one silver eye. What is going on? Stay tuned for next chapter!**

**This chapter is dedicated to friendship. 'Nuff said.**


	26. I'm Sorry

I'm sorry for getting your hopes up that this would be a new chapter for **Domino Effect**. I'm sorry for leaving you hanging, for constantly keeping you waiting for more. I feel terrible. I'm losing faith in this story. I have zero inspiration right now. You have no idea how many times I have typed up the next chapter and then had to delete it and rewrite it to make it better. I still have several storylines in mind, and I'm pretty sure those amazing ideas won't go away no matter how long it takes me to update. I would have updated this sooner, but I have been neglecting FanFiction for the longest time. I am not leaving FanFiction. I am probably going to continue writing Kingdom Hearts content as well as dabbling in other fandoms like Pokémon, Mario, and Smash Bros. This is just the end of this story. For now, at least. I will leave it as incomplete in case I ever want to come back to it. If you've read through all of this so far and want to continue, let me explain why I've left this story.

First off, as I've explained already, I don't know what to do right now. Writing the next chapter seems fun but I also get bored doing it and I never get enough work done, and when I finally put enough effort in it to finish, it's either terrible or I just feel as though more can be done to make it _better_. Secondly, I have a lot on my plate right now. I'm dealing with family, friends, a girlfriend, and a personal life right now. I've begun my senior year of high school. Hurray for that! If I do ever feel like returning to this story, it would be as soon as our first school break, or even as far as next summer. I have no idea what's going to happen. And if I start to take classes at any kind of school after high school, **Domino Effect** will be pushed even farther away.

Another reason I'm not writing this is because I'm trying to focus on my career as an actual writer. I've always wanted to become an author. I've always wanted to get my own book published. Since I always thought that could never happen until much later, I turned to writing fanfiction to get my writing out there. Now I think I'll write fanfiction less frequently in order to actually write a story that could potentially be published.

I'm sorry for all of this trouble. Writing this story has been one of the best things to do in my free time. The reviews I read are what made me update. But even now it's hard to do so. I'm sorry for leaving this. But please, if you will, keep this story under your alerts so in the future, if I DO return to this story and update, even if it's not frequent at all, you can still check on it and read it. That would be awesome. You guys are the best. I'll see you in the future if I ever update this story.

Hobey ho,

**_-theDarkestZero-_**


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